L. Frank Baum
From Illinois Authors
Contents |
General Information
Pen Name: Edith Van Dyne, Floyd Akers, Schuyler Staunton, John Estes Cooke,Suzanne Metcalf, Laura Bancroft
Genre: Fiction
Born: May 15, 1856 in Chittenango, New York
Died: May 6, 1919 in Hollywood, California (age 62)
Photo Credit: L. Frank Baum, circa 1908, Library of Congress, American Memory [cph 3c03204]
Celebrated on the Gwendolyn Brooks Building
"Education is a thing to be proud of. I'm educated myself. The mess of brains given me by the Great Wizard is considered by my friends to be unexcelled. -L. Frank Baum, The Land of Oz
Illinois Connection
- Lived and worked in Chicago from 1891 to 1914
Biographical and Professional Information
Lyman Frank Baum was born into a wealthy family in Chittenango, New York, on May 15, 1856. His love of books and writing emerged at an early age and access to his father's library gave him ample opportunity to read. In his early teens he wrote a family newspaper. Reversals in family fortune left him on his own in his late teens. While he searched to develop and channel his artistic ideas, he married, had four sons, and held a succession of jobs.
He was living in Chicago when his first book, Mother Goose in Prose, was published in 1887. His inventive mind created many fantasy characters and he loved to weave them into stories for neighborhood children. Baum family legend has it that one evening while he was telling stories of some of his characters, one inquisitive little girl asked, "Yes, but where do they live?" Baum looked over at a two-drawer file cabinet. The bottom drawer was labeled O-Z, and the land of Oz was born.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published in Chicago in 1900 to immediate success and was produced in Chicago as a musical play in 1901. Baum had found his niche and wrote extensively for children, but none of his books was as popular as the "Oz" stories. Children clammored for more of them. Baum himself wrote 14 Oz stories in all and two other authors continued the series after his death in 1919. The original Wizard of Oz remains today one of the most popular American children's stories of all time and the 1939 movie version of the book has become a film classic, starring Judy Garland.
During his life, Baum was a novelist, short story writer, dramatist, journalist and children's author.
Published Works
- Mother Goose in Prose, 1887
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, G.M Hill, 1900
- The Marvelous Land of Oz, Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman (1904), Reprinted by Ballentine, 1985
- Ozma of Oz (1907), Reprinted by Ballentine, 1984
- Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908), Reprinted by Ballentine, 1985
- The Road to Oz, Reprinted by Ballentine, 1984
- The Emerald City of Oz (1910), Reprinted by Ballentine, 1985
- The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913), Reprinted by Ballentine, 1985
- Tik-Tok of Oz (1914), Reprinted by Ballentine, 1984
- The Scarecrow of Oz (1915), Reprinted by Ballentine, 1980
- Rinkitink in Oz (1916), Reprinted by Ballentine, 1980
Titles for Purchase and at Your Library
 | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Books of Wonder)ISBN: 0688166776 Release Date: 2001-09-01 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 100th Anniversary Edition (Books of Wonder)ISBN: 0060293233 Release Date: 2000-10-31 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Signet Classics)ISBN: 0451530292 Release Date: 2006-10-03 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Unabridged Classics)ISBN: 1402725043 Release Date: 2005-10-01 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Modern Library Classics)ISBN: 081297011X Release Date: 2003-12-09 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard Of OzISBN: 1582407150 Release Date: 2006-12-20 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A Commemorative Pop-upISBN: 0689817517 Release Date: 2001-01-31 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz : The Kansas Centennial EditionISBN: 0700611517 Release Date: 2001-11 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 0762416289 Release Date: 2003-05-21 |
 | The Treasury of Oz: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The Road to Oz, The Emerald City of ... Tik-Tok of Oz, The Scarecrow Of Oz, RinkitinISBN: 1604590297 Release Date: 2007-08-03 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Troll Illustrated Classics)ISBN: 0816772398 Release Date: 2002-09-02 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oxford World's Classics)ISBN: 0192839306 Release Date: 2000-03-30 |
L. Frank Baum's the Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 0520058224 Release Date: 1986-08 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 078618034X Release Date: 2005-03 |
 | The Annotated Wizard of Oz: The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 0517500868 Release Date: 1976-10 |
 | Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (Wonderful Oz Books)ISBN: 0345341686 Release Date: 1986-08-12 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 1403713944 Release Date: 2005-06 |
 | [Paperback] The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz by L. Frank Baum from Young Reader's Classics (Young Reader's Classics, The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz)ISBN: B000AV6N96 Release Date: 2005 |
 | Adventures in Oz Vol. I: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Marvelous Land of Oz, and Ozma of OzISBN: 1604590149 Release Date: 2008-03-26 |
 | Books of Wonder Oz Box Set: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz / The Marvelous Land of Oz / Ozma of OzISBN: 0064409473 Release Date: 2000-10-31 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Audio CD Classics CollectionISBN: B000GQ1ODU Release Date: 2006 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 0972480528 Release Date: 2005-11-08 |
 | The Wonderful World of Oz: The Wizard of Oz, The Emerald City of Oz, Glinda of Oz (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin)ISBN: 0141180854 Release Date: 1998-08-01 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Dover Large Print Classics)ISBN: 0486422488 Release Date: 2002-05-21 |
The Annotated Wizard of OzISBN: B000EH6NV4 Release Date: 1973-01-01 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oxford Children's Classics)ISBN: 0192728024 Release Date: 2008-09-15 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Barnes & Noble Classics)ISBN: 1593082215 Release Date: 2005-09-01 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: B000MUX59G Release Date: 1999 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 1402725353 Release Date: 2005-08-01 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard Of OzISBN: 1421806525 Release Date: 2005-05-15 |
The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 0688069452 Release Date: 1924-12 |
Yellow Brick Road (Wonderful Wizard of Oz Pop-Up Series)ISBN: 0517052687 Release Date: 1991-06-10 |
L. Frank Baum's The wonderful wizard of OzISBN: B0006YVNR4 Release Date: 1985 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 1403713855 Release Date: 2007-01 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Classic Tales (Courage Books))ISBN: 0762432217 Release Date: 2008-02-05 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 1426448414 Release Date: 2007-03-08 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 1587260344 Release Date: 2003-09 |
 | The Wizard of Oz Collection (Includes the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Marvelous Land of Oz, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, and the Emerald City of Oz)ISBN: B000UD206O Release Date: 1989 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 0786134577 Release Date: 2005-03 |
 | The wonderful wizard of Oz and the marvelous land of OzISBN: B0007F0G1Q Release Date: 1964 |
| | The wonderful wizard of Oz and the marvelous land of OzISBN: B0007F0G1Q Release Date: 1964 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 1844584194 Release Date: 2005-06-28 |
The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 0756759919 Release Date: 2003-07 |
Adventures In Oz (Wonderful Wizard of Oz Pop-Up Series)ISBN: 0517052679 Release Date: 1991-06-10 |
El Maravilloso Mago De Oz / The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Spanish Edition)ISBN: 8477207364 Release Date: 1999-11-01 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 1603128980 Release Date: 2007-02-01 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 1426448848 Release Date: 2007-03-08 |
The Wonderful Land of Oz, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Land of Oz, Ozma of OzISBN: B000H5EFIG Release Date: 1998 |
Books of Wonder Wonderful Wizard of Oz PropISBN: 0689842074 Release Date: 2000-10 |
Wonderful Wizard of Oz: American Black FolktalesISBN: 0394972074 Release Date: |
 | The Wonderful Wizard Of OzISBN: 1595401024 Release Date: 2004-09-01 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Centenary EditionISBN: 186205343X Release Date: 2002-11-01 |
 | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (New York Post, Volume 13)ISBN: B000ZVSTFC Release Date: 2004 |
The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 075675917X Release Date: 2003-07 |
Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 0613980875 Release Date: 1960-06 |
El Maravilloso Mago De Oz/the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Spanish Edition)ISBN: 8472811840 Release Date: 1985-09 |
the Wonderful wizard of OzISBN: B0012Q5FLU Release Date: 1985 |
The wonderful wizard of OzISBN: B0007F9VRG Release Date: 1968 |
The Wonderful Wizard of OzISBN: 8497898613 Release Date: 2004 |
Literary Awards
In 1990, his name was engraved on the frieze of the Illinois State Library alongside other great Illinois literary figures.
External Links
Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baum
Website: http://www.literarytraveler.com/authors/l_frank_baum.aspx
Website: http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/lfbaum.htm
Editing
This page can only be edited by Illinois Center for the Book staff, this author or this author's representatives. Please contact us for access.
Categories: Authors | Last Name B | Fiction | Children | Adult
