Originally published in The Baum Bugle, vol. 62, no. 1 (Spring 2018), pgs. 35–36
Citations
Chicago 17th ed.:
Bienvenue, Paul R. Review of Bibliographia Baumiana, by W. Neal Thompson, Baum Bugle 62, no. 1 (2018): 35–36.
MLA 9th ed.:
Bienvenue, Paul R. Review of Bibliographia Baumiana, by W. Neal Thompson, The Baum Bugle, vol. 62, no. 1, 2018, pp. 35–36.
(Note: typographical errors have been left in place to accurately reflect the printed version.)
BIBLIOGRAPHIA BAUMIANA by W. Neal Thompson. The International Wizard of Oz Club, 2017. 419 pages. Hardcover, $89.95 ($79.95 for Club members). Paperback, $59.95 ($49.95 for Club members). Available at www.ozclub.org.
Six years after the inception of the International Wizard of Oz Club, the Christmas 1963 issue of The Baum Bugle offered the first installment of “Bibliographia Oziana,” a series of reports on the printing histories of L. Frank Baum’s original publications as deduced from careful study of surviving copies. The first “Bibliographia Baumiana” article on Baum’s non-Oz books appeared in the Spring 1966 issue, and “Bibliographia Pseudonymiana” in Spring 1969. These articles became an eagerly awaited feature of the Bugle for many of its readers. Pioneering work on Baum’s Oz and non-Oz books was presented by Dick Martin, David and Douglas Greene, Peter E. Hanff, and Jim Haff. Some of us early collectors toted binders of these photocopied Bugle pages to swap meets and bookstores to aid in deciphering our discoveries.
Therefore, there was much rejoicing when, in 1976, the Oz Club published in book form Bibliographia Oziana: A Concise Bibliographical Checklist of the Oz Books of L. Frank Baum and His Successors by Douglas G. Greene and Peter E. Hanff. Expanding on the Bugle articles, “Bib Oz” covered the “Famous Forty” Oz books plus important extracanonical titles such as Who’s Who in Oz, Yankee in Oz, and Denslow’s Scarecrow and the Tin Man. “Bib Oz” became our treasured go-to for treasure-hunting Oz books. For the non-Oz and pseudonymous titles, however, our binders remained.
“Bibliographia Baumiana” received a reboot in the Bugle beginning in 1981, but it wasn’t until 1987 that Patrick M. Maund, with Peter E. Hanff, began reexamining Baum’s non-Oz books with an eye toward more formal bibliographic formatting than had been used previously. The original “Bibliographia” articles had always been somewhat of a compromise between those who saw the need for a simplified checklist of important points and those who preferred the more comprehensive coverage found in formal bibliography. That compromise is evident in the subtitle of the book version of Bibliographia Oziana: A Concise Bibliographic Checklist (emphases mine). Maund’s new studies moved the needle well into the bibliographers’ zone, including opening each study with the precise format and wording of the title page and defining any printing from the original plates as part of the first edition, regardless of how much time had passed between the first and final printings. (Thus, Reilly & Lee’s 1970 reissue of Sky Island was considered the fifth printing of the first edition, which was originally issued in 1912.) There are, of course, advantages and disadvantages to both approaches, but none could say Maund’s methodology lacked detail.
Now, thirty years after Patrick Maund began revitalizing the study of Baum’s non-Oz works, W. Neal Thompson (aka Bill) has collected and exhaustively expanded on Maund’s work. The result is the long-anticipated Bibliographia Baumiana: A Comprehensive Bibliography of the Non-Oz Books by L. Frank Baum, and I am delighted to say that it delivers on its every promise. Thompson notes that “it is intended as a companion volume to Bibliographia Oziana,” but as a comparison of the subtitles demonstrates, this is no mere concise checklist. Thompson’s adherence to bibliographic formatting is even stricter than Maund’s. Each first printing is presented with a precise written facsimile of the title page and copyright notice, followed by discussion of textual details, collation, pagination, illustrations, binding, and dust jacket features. Descriptions of subsequent printings note only variations on the above information.
Thompson’s forematter offers a synopsis and discussion on syntax and abbreviations as well as a glossary. The main body of the book is broken into sections: “Bibliographia Baumiana” (books of nonfiction and fantasy); “Bibliographia Pseudonymiana” (pseudonymous books of fiction and fantasy); “Bibliographia Anonymiana” (anonymous adventure); “Bibliographia Baumiana—Addenda” (introductions and softcover booklets); and “Appendices.” The book also offers three sixteen-page groupings of color plates that present many toothsome examples of Baum rarities.
In all, Thompson covers more than eighty titles. The “Appendices” offer a detailed discussion of the prepublication dummies for Father Goose: His Book (1899) as well as a meticulous analysis of how Baum’s The Art of Decorating Dry Goods Windows and Interiors (1900) utilized articles from The Show Window magazine (of which Baum was founder and editor), and how these contents evolved as the book was reprinted over the next twenty-four years.
Baum collectors and fans alike have waited decades for this volume, and it is such a pleasure to have this void so handsomely filled. Thompson must be heartily congratulated on the completion of such a labor of love, and his book should find its way to the shelves of all Baum enthusiasts.
Authors of articles from The Baum Bugle that are reprinted on the Oz Club’s website retain all rights. All other website contents Copyright © 2026 The International Wizard of Oz Club, Inc. All Rights Reserved.