BIENVENUE, Paul R. & SCHMIDT, Robert E. “The Book Collector’s Guide to L. Frank Baum” [2009]

BIENVENUE, Paul R. & SCHMIDT, Robert E. The Book Collector’s Guide to L. Frank Baum.

El Segundo, CA: March Hare Books, 2009. First edition. xxxviii + 369pp. Large octavo. Publisher’s cloth in dust jacket. A fine copy with clean interior and sharp binding; dust jacket fine. Fine.

The definitive modern bibliography of L. Frank Baum’s works—covering Oz, non-Oz, and pseudonymous titles with exceptional clarity and depth. Extensively illustrated with hundreds of color photographs of bindings, dust jackets, and issue points, the volume provides a practical, “top-down” system for identifying editions and states, a tool widely regarded as transformative for collectors navigating the notoriously complex publication history of Baum’s books.

Issued by specialist publisher March Hare Books and never reprinted, the guide quickly became indispensable to both collectors and dealers; copies are now scarce on the market, as most remain in active reference libraries rather than circulating for sale.