The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: An Illuminated Edition

An oversized, slipcase-housed art book edition of THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, L. Frank Baum's timeless, peculiar American fairy tale illustrated by New Yorker cover artist David Plunkert, and featuring an original introduction from Hugo, Nebula and Macarthur "Genius" Grant-winning author Kelly Link, and an essay by Gore Vidal. Published in the first months of the 20th century, Baum's masterpiece launched a series of forty books, a hit stage play, a comic series, and a number of movies from the 1939 classic that has often been called the greatest American film, to the ongoing hit WICKED series. This elaborately illustrated edition of the book that launched a vast kingdom of wonder builds upon all that made the Oz books singular -- the odd, cracked humor, social satire, childlike enchantment, and strange dark undercurrents of Baum's voice as a storyteller. Plunkert's singular illustrations reimagine Oz as a otherworldly makeshift dreamscape, while Kelly Link's essay explores its place in contemporary fiction, and Gore Vidal explores Oz as a defining piece of American mythmaking. A stunning new entry in Beehive Books award-winning Illuminated Editions series, this volume is housed in a shimmering die-cut sculpturally embossed slipcase, printed on uncoated acid-free paper, and published in an oversized 9x12" trim format.