Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present The Joel Harris Collection of Oziana & Children’s Books on Saturday, September 26, 2020. Curated by the Director of Special Publications of the International Wizard of Oz Club – who is also an author, collector and San Francisco Bay Area estate planning and probate attorney – Mr. Harris’s sale offers over 190 lots of first edition and vintage books, featuring a captivating and broad selection of Oz books. These include The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Land of Oz, The Emerald City of Oz, Glinda of Oz, Scarecrow of Oz, Tik-Tok of Oz, and others. The Oz series was written by L. Frank Baum (1856-1919), a prolific American author best known for his children's books – in particular The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its 13 sequels, plus 41 other novels, 83 short stories, and more than 200 poems and 42 scripts.
Oz collection highlights include The Wizard of Oz from 1939 signed by movie cast members; a first edition from 1899; and six editions of the same book that all vary from one another. This online auction also features other books by Baum, including Mother Goose in Prose, with illustrations by Maxfield Parrish; Queen Zixi Of Ix, The Master Key: An Electric Fairy Tale; The Navy Alphabet; The Sea Fairies; and The Songs of Father Goose.
Other children’s books in the sale include The Boy Fortune Hunters and The Flying Girl series, Sam Steele’s Adventures, and The Arabian Nights; plus a selection of ‘pop-up’ books, including Pinocchio and Jack the Giant Killer and Other Tales.
Books by other acclaimed authors, collected by Mr. Harris’s late wife Christine, include Jack London, A. Conan Doyle and Maurice Sendak. Among these highlights are noted A. A. Milne books: a fine first British edition of The House at Pooh Corner in the original dust jacket; The Christopher Robin Story Book; More “Very Young” Songs; and several editions of Now We Are Six. There are also Jack London books, including one that is signed. Some were in the personal collection of London’s younger daughter Becky, who lived in Glen Ellen and became a friend of Christine’s. Rounding out the sale are several other lots: several presidential books, including Memoirs by Harry S. Truman, two volumes, one signed; and George Herbert Walker Bush: A Photographic Profile; a rare W.W. Denslow 1905 Sunny Jim Doll; and stickers autographed by Ray Bradbury.