Description
Inspired by L. Frank Baum’s love of printing, Oz scholar Michael Riley produced five works by Baum at his own Pamami Press between 1978 and 1984. He hand set all the type, printed the pages on a press similar to one Baum might have used, and hand bound each copy. The press ceased operation when Michael moved to Germany to teach, and the few unsold copies of his books were put in storage. Since then, these books have become sought after collector’s items and are described fully in The Book Collector’s Guide to L. Frank Baum by Paul Bienvenue, pages 271-277. Some of the earlier titles were sold out, and from two to six copies only are left of the other titles!
The Runaway Shadows by L. Frank Baum was written as one of the American Fairy Tales, but not included in the published volume. This charming story was first published in a newspaper around 1901. The 1979 Pamami Press edition is the first separate publication of this story. The edition consists of only 250 numbered copies bound in four formats: red and blue hardback copies with dust jackets (numbers 151-250) and red and blue copies bound in wrappers (numbers 1-150). Page size is 6” x 4 ½”. Pp. vi + 19. The text is printed in blue ink with red highlights.
The original copies bound in stiff blue paper wrappers were withdrawn from sale soon after publication because the cover stock faded quickly. In 2011 when the Pamami Press was re-established, the first project was to print new covers for those withdrawn copies; therefore, offered here is a 1979 copy bound in cover stock with a new wraparound cover printed in 2011 using the original type, illustration, and ink.
