Info about Neill

[redskin]

Who was John R. Neill, and how did he get involved in Oz?

John Rea Neill was born in 1877, and took to drawing at an early age. He was asked by Reilly and Britton to illustrate the new Oz book, The Marvelous Land of Oz, in 1904, and he went on to illustrate the rest of Baum's Oz books, some of his non-Oz titles, and all of Ruth Plumly Thompson's Oz books. Many Oz fans consider him to be the definitive illustrator of the Oz books, and he drew literally hundreds of characters. He also illustrated books for a number of other publishers, and drew for magazines, newspapers, and advertisements. When Thompson stepped down as Royal Historian of Oz, the publishers asked Neill if he'd like to write a book as well as illustrate it. He accepted, and wrote three more titles in the series (although an overenthusiastic editor at Reilly and Lee apparently rewrote much of his books). He had written the manuscript for a fourth book when he died in 1943. As sales of the Oz books had been dropping, and America's entrance into World War II brought about paper rationing, Reilly and Lee decided not to publish Neill's fourth book, and to put the series on hold until after the war.

[from eskimo.com]

[redskin]

The first Oz book to come out under Neill's name was The Oz Toy Book in 1915, a series of character portraits printed on cardstock so they could be cut out and made to stand. Unfortunately the publishers didn't clear this with Baum, causing some bitterness between Baum and Neill, despite the book being the publishers' idea. Baum feared that Neill, like Denslow, was trying to take credit for the creation of his characters. Reilly and Britton were able to placate Baum, and The Oz Toy Book was not reprinted and largely forgotten, although it has been reprinted in black and white, currently available from IWOC. The manuscript for Neill's fourth novel was kept by his family, and in 1995 it was edited and illustrated by Eric Shanower, and published as The Runaway in Oz by Books of Wonder. It is currently available from both Books of Wonder and from Shanower through Hungry Tiger Press.

{from same source}

[Ozymandias]

good info redskin but do you know of any links?