The Land of Oz as it was meant to be for 95 Cents or less.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published in 1900 a 113 years go. It is hard to imagine a book  being available back then for more than 95 cents. 

1900 was the land of the five cent lunch. Probably wasn't much of a lunch either. 20 lunches would have been a buck. Today, 113 years later you see "lunches" advertised for $1. Probably isn't much of a lunch either. 20 lunches would  be a $20. Enough to buy a $19.95  book at Kroger's Supermarket where a deli sandwich lunch costs $5.00.

Trouble is there isn't just one Oz book. There are 14 canonized (like Shakespeare) volumes written by the original  author L. Frank Baum between the years 1900 and his death  in  1920. Read the original 14 and you are an  Oz affenciando par excellance worthy of a ride home in the wizard's balloon or a return trip via footwear from Good Witch  Glinda. How do I know ? My mother told  me so.  Somewhere between her birth in 1919 and her arrivals  at the University of California in  1937 she read the original 14 Oz books. There she met  a young man who could also claim the same distinction. Their initial attraction faded fast but their love of the Oz books prompted  a series of dates and endless conversations about kingdoms and characters of Oz which few if any of their classmates had discovered.

My mother's passing  in 1997  prompted me to regret not having read any of the Oz books. What was there that I was missing ? What might we have  talked about had I but known. 

The last (and only)  time I  saw what seemed to be the Oz books was on a bookshelf  at my Brother In  Law's wake. I didn't examine the books  or count titles. The only one I talked to about the books  was my wife who marveled at my restraint under the circumstances.

"So they are valuable ?" she asked. I said I wasn't sure. There were too many variables but  the interesting thing was the bond that people who read the books had with other readers.

 Aside from our wedding my mother and my brother in law never really met. Had they both realized that they had both read the original 14 Oz books that might have changed. Over the years my wife kept track of the books.They went out west (to Grand Rapids) and came back for reasons never made clear. Some other relative wanted them but it wasn't definite. Uncle Mike said with my Father in law nothing was ever definite.  He went to flea markets  and bought and sold with great abandon.  That is how we got the almost life size Battle of Gravelotte  ( Franco-Prussian War) reproduction which many in the family covet. Ke sera sera. 

One day last week,  apropos of nothing more than the  by coming of a 3D movie,  Oz the Great and the Powerful I pushed a button an electronic devise  and downloaded all 14 original Oz  books  in less five seconds. The books are also available for free from many  sources but  reviewers have stressed the importance of the maintaining the order. For 95 cents  all 14 in order seemed to be worth the additional investment.

. Below is a helpful guide  I found on Wiki describing the plot synopsis. observations and link (in blue) to the myriad of characters the books feature

List of "canonical" books by L. Frank Baum

The Original and Official Oz Books by L. Frank Baum
	Order	Title	Illustrator	Year	Publisher
	1	The Wonderful Wizard of Oz	W. W. Denslow	1900	George M. Hill
	Dorothy and her little dog, Toto, get swept into the Land of Oz by a cyclone. She meets a living Scarecrow, a man made entirely of tin, and a Cowardly Lion while trying to get to the Emerald City to see the great Wizard. Also reprinted by various publishers under the names The New Wizard of Oz and The Wizard of Oz with occasional minor changes in the text. It was originally written as a one-shot book.
	2	The Marvelous Land of Oz	John R. Neill	1904	Reilly & Britton
	A little boy, Tip, escapes from his evil guardian, the witch Mombi, with the help of a walking wooden figure with a jack-o'-lantern head named Jack Pumpkinhead (brought to life with the magic Powder of Life Tip stole from Mombi), as well as a living Sawhorse (created from the same powder). Tip ends up on an adventure with the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman. It later transpires that Tip is actually Princess Ozma, the rightful ruler of Oz, who was transformed by the evil Mombi.
	3	Ozma of Oz	John R. Neill	1907	Reilly & Britton
	While traveling to Australia with her Uncle Henry, Dorothy is swept overboard with a hen named Billina. They land in Ev, a country across the desert from Oz, and, together with new-found mechanical friend Tik-Tok, they must save Ev's royal family from the evil Nome King. With Princess Ozma's help, they finally return to Oz.
	4	Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz	John R. Neill	1908	Reilly & Britton
	On her way back from Australia, Dorothy visits her cousin, Zeb, in California. They are soon swallowed up by an earthquake, along with Zeb's horse Jim and Dorothy's cat Eureka. The group soon meets up with the Wizard and all travel underground back to Oz.
	5	The Road to Oz	John R. Neill	1909	Reilly & Britton
	Dorothy meets the Shaggy Man, and while trying to find the road to Butterfield, they get lost on an enchanted road. As they travel they meet the rainbow's daughter, Polychrome, and a little boy, Button-Bright. They have all sorts of strange adventures on the way to Oz.
	6	The Emerald City of Oz	John R. Neill	1910	Reilly & Britton
	Dorothy Gale and her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em come to live in Oz permanently. While they tour through the Quadling Country, the Nome King is tunneling beneath the desert to invade Oz. This was originally intended to be the last book in the series.
	7	The Patchwork Girl of Oz	John R. Neill	1913	Reilly & Britton
	A Munchkin boy named Ojo must find a cure to free his Uncle Nunkie from a magical spell that has turned him into a statue. With the help of Scraps, an anthropomorphic patchwork doll, Ojo journeys through Oz to save his uncle.
	8	Tik-Tok of Oz	John R. Neill	1914	Reilly & Britton
	Betsy Bobbin, a girl from Oklahoma, is shipwrecked with her mule, Hank, in the Rose Kingdom of Oz. She meets the Shaggy Man there and the two try to rescue the Shaggy Man's brother from the Nome King. This book is partly based upon Baum's stage musical, The Tik-Tok Man of Oz, which was in turn based on Ozma of Oz.
	9	The Scarecrow of Oz	John R. Neill	1915	Reilly & Britton
	Cap'n Bill and Trot journey to Oz and, with the help of the Scarecrow, the former ruler of Oz, overthrow the villainous King Krewl of Jinxland. Cap'n Bill and Trot had previously appeared in two other novels by Baum, The Sea Fairies and Sky Island. Based in part upon the 1914 silent film, His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz. This was allegedly L. Frank Baum's personal favourite Oz book.
	10	Rinkitink in Oz	John R. Neill	1916	Reilly & Britton
	Prince Inga of Pingaree and King Rinkitink and their companions have adventures that lead to the land of the Nomes and, eventually, Oz. Baum originally wrote this book as a non-Oz book entitled King Rinkitink.
	11	The Lost Princess of Oz	John R. Neill	1917	Reilly & Britton
	When Princess Ozma mysteriously disappears, four search parties are sent out, one for each of Oz's four countries. Most of the book covers Dorothy and the Wizard's efforts to find her. Meanwhile, Cayke the Cookie Chef discovers that her magic dishpan (on which she bakes her famous cookies) has been stolen. Along with the Frogman, they leave their mountain in Winkie Country to find the pan.
	12	The Tin Woodman of Oz	John R. Neill	1918	Reilly & Lee
	The Tin Woodman, whose real name is Nick Chopper, is unexpectedly reunited with his the Munchkin Girl he had courted before he became a tin man. Sadly, she has a new love and no longer cares for him. As he attempts to regain her affection, Nick discovers a fellow tin man, Captain Fyter, as well as a Frankenstein monster-like creature, Chopfyt, made from their combined parts by the tinsmith, Ku-Klip.
	13	The Magic of Oz	John R. Neill	1919	Reilly & Lee
	Ruggedo, former Nome King, tries to conquer Oz again with the help of a Munchkin boy, Kiki Aru. Meanwhile, it is also Ozma's birthday, and all of Oz's citizens are searching for the most unusual present for the little princess. This was published a month after Baum's death.
	14	Glinda of Oz	John R. Neill	1920	Reilly & Lee
	Dorothy, Ozma and Glinda try to stop a war in the Gillikin Country. This was Baum's last Oz book, and was published posthumously. Most critics agree this is Baum's darkest Oz book, most likely due to his failing health. There have been many other Oz books released since, although not written by Baum.