The Giant Horse of Oz
Title
The Giant Horse of Oz
Creator
Ruth Plumly Thompson & L. Frank Baum
Publisher
Chicago: The Reilly & Lee Co.
Date
1928
Description
The Giant Horse of Oz was chosen for our "Damaged Books" event to demonstrate human added change in books, specifically, coloring.
The former owner of this book must have loved this story! Before attempting to reproduce the illustration, she first traced over the original drawing, applying a lot of pressure so that the tracing would leave an imprint on the following page to then trace over and reproduce. The medium she used was a pencil (a.k.a. graphite). She also created a version of one of the illustrations independent of the tracing.
In the rare book world it is said that a pristine children's book is an unloved book. Different children have different motivations for coloring or drawing in their books: boredom, distraction, lack of dedicated coloring books, or loving the story and wanting to add their ideas to the printed page.
The paper is turning yellow-brown, which is an indication that the wood pulp paper is suffering from acidification. And the plates in some places are showing signs of ink bleeding to facing pages.
On the exterior of the book, there is minimal shelfwear damage, but there is some to the spine's headcap and tailcap and some chips to the paper design glued to the front cover.
The former owner of this book must have loved this story! Before attempting to reproduce the illustration, she first traced over the original drawing, applying a lot of pressure so that the tracing would leave an imprint on the following page to then trace over and reproduce. The medium she used was a pencil (a.k.a. graphite). She also created a version of one of the illustrations independent of the tracing.
In the rare book world it is said that a pristine children's book is an unloved book. Different children have different motivations for coloring or drawing in their books: boredom, distraction, lack of dedicated coloring books, or loving the story and wanting to add their ideas to the printed page.
The paper is turning yellow-brown, which is an indication that the wood pulp paper is suffering from acidification. And the plates in some places are showing signs of ink bleeding to facing pages.
On the exterior of the book, there is minimal shelfwear damage, but there is some to the spine's headcap and tailcap and some chips to the paper design glued to the front cover.
_______
CURATOR NOTE: Although the donor did remember and could share stories of some of the books in the donation, sadly, we did not talk to her about how much she must have loved this story as a child before her death.
CURATOR NOTE: Although the donor did remember and could share stories of some of the books in the donation, sadly, we did not talk to her about how much she must have loved this story as a child before her death.
Identifier
SPECIAL PZ8 .T372 G5 1928
Language
English
Relation
To see this book on November 14, 2019 in the "Event Photographs" Collection, please go here [Photograph of Books] IMG 1413 and here [Photograph of Books] IMG_1414.
This book is also featured in our Beautiful Books digital exhibit. To see that record, please use this link: The Giant Horse of Oz.
Text
Why is there coloring in my book?
In the book world it is generally acknowledged that a children’s book that is pristine is unloved. When a child has drawn in or on a book, they were either bored, paper was at a premium and they drew on anything they could find, or they loved the book so much they tried to reproduce the illustrations as seen in the Oz book. Some books are decorated by an adult, but this is less common.
In the book world it is generally acknowledged that a children’s book that is pristine is unloved. When a child has drawn in or on a book, they were either bored, paper was at a premium and they drew on anything they could find, or they loved the book so much they tried to reproduce the illustrations as seen in the Oz book. Some books are decorated by an adult, but this is less common.
_______
How can coloring be prevented? // What should I do about coloring?
Teaching children when they are young that they should not write or draw in a book is the best way to prevent coloring, but if the child loves the book, would preventing them from expressing that love not actually be counter-productive? After all, many adults will annotate a book they love or when they are studying.
Once coloring has been added it becomes part of the history of that particular volume and should be left alone. If there is a concern or visible bleeding of the crayon, marker, pen, or pencil onto facing pages, place a piece of acid-free tissue paper over the image to catch the residual oils or graphite.
How can coloring be prevented? // What should I do about coloring?
Teaching children when they are young that they should not write or draw in a book is the best way to prevent coloring, but if the child loves the book, would preventing them from expressing that love not actually be counter-productive? After all, many adults will annotate a book they love or when they are studying.
Once coloring has been added it becomes part of the history of that particular volume and should be left alone. If there is a concern or visible bleeding of the crayon, marker, pen, or pencil onto facing pages, place a piece of acid-free tissue paper over the image to catch the residual oils or graphite.
Original Format
Text taken from informational panel(s) created for the November 14, 2019 event.
Collection
Citation
Ruth Plumly Thompson & L. Frank Baum, “The Giant Horse of Oz,” Damaged Books, accessed May 14, 2024, https://damagedbooks.omeka.net/items/show/100.