THE GIANT HORSE OF OZ: Founded on the continuing the Famous Oz Stories of L. Frank Baum

The Reilly & Lee Co., 1928. Hardcover. Good Plus. John R. Neill. SECOND printing, but ANOMALOUS. Many of the first edition points: Quiberon misspelled as Oniberon on frontis; pp. 126-127 transposed; the "r" in the word "morning" (p. 116, line 1), unbroken, but, curiously, unlike every other "r" in the book, rests on a curled foot; black and white endpapers; smooth-backed plates.An EXTRA SIGNATURE sewn into book: pp. 193 to 208 repeats, including the color plate.No doubt as a result, the binding was compromised; the back is broken, but fully intact. Paul Bienvenue, who compiled the authoritative bibliography of L. Frank Baum and Oz books,has examined this copy and written (see copy of laid-in letter, at rear): "."...I received the oddball Giant Horse of Oz yesterday, and have found it very useful in clarifying how the first and second printings should be classified. It has shown me that the current points we use are a bit muddy, and I think we can greatly improve the descriptions.Your book is indeed mixed, but not so much as it first appears. The confusion comes mainly from the fact that in both my book and Bibliographia Oziana before it, equal weight is put upon the misprint of the caption on the frontispiece plate and the transposition of pp. 126-127. For my Guide, I further chose to emphasize the misprinted caption as the easiest way to quickly determine the printing state. Your book has shown me that my assumption that the misprinted caption always accompanies the first printing of the text is wrong, and indeed careful consideration would show the danger of such an assumption even without the evidence your book provides.The best way to look at the 1st vs. 2nd problem is by the transposition of the pages. The first printing has the pages in the correct order, and the second transposes them. Period. Your copy has the transposition and therefore it is a 2nd printing.The reason the plate caption confuses the issue is that plates are not part of the text; rather, like the binding, they are separate components that are independent of the text pages. In bibliography, the text sheets are king; other components such as plates, covers, and dust jackets can be mixed in a multitude of combinations but the sheets are the fundamental unit by which the book must be judged.Your copy is a perfect example. Even though it has the first issue frontispiece plate, the sheets are second printing and just because the bindery had one or more first issue frontispieces left on hand doesn't change the state of the text, any more than an earlier or later dust jacket would. In fact, the plates in your copy are a mix of 1st printing (coated on the printed side only) and 2nd printing (coated on both sides).Confounding the issue even further is the type damage to the first line of p. 116. Your copy actually DOES show the damage; the problem is that the damage is minor, distorting only the bottom serif of the "r" with no loss. But in paging through your copy I found another spot of damage that is very obvious: the word "going" on the fourth line of p. 204. I have two first printing copies at hand that show now damage at either point, and a second printing copy that shows damage at both points. I will need to examine a lot of other copies to see if it tracks with the damage on the other page, but I suspect it will, and if so it will be a much easier point to use than the other..." IllustrationsFRONTIS: OniberonOpp. 48 Akbad The SoothsayerOpp. 64 Soothsayer, flying with Trot, Public Benefactor and The ScarecrowOpp. 80 The MermanOpp. 128 Joe King and The Medicine ManOpp. 160 High BoyOpp. 192 Trot and The Merman Shake HandsOpp. 208 Highboy drops upon his haunches, with Philador and Herby mounted.Here follows an intended extra signature comprising a second pp. 193-208, including extra color plate. (Opp. 208 Highboy drops upon his haunches, with Philador and Herby mounted)Opp. 224 Shutterface atop ChimneyOpp. 240 Queen Orin perched on bow of boatOpp. 248 Queen Orin, announcing: "I am The Good Witch of the North"Opp. 272 Trot, sitting on the steps leading to the throne.