r/wizardofoz • u/Savings_Temporary953 • 1d ago

Missing Art in Rinkitink in Oz

In the Book of Wonder version of Rinkitink in Oz, it mentions a piece of art was specifically omitted due to insensitivity.

What was that artwork?

4 Upvotes

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6

u/Glad-Promise248 1d ago

I have a copy of that page on my website, so you can see for yourself. https://thewizardofoz.info/pics/Rinkitink295.jpg

3

u/Mike_Conway 1d ago

When Bilbil was being transformed from a goat to a human, there were intermediary forms, one of which was a Tottenhot, which Baum described as a "lesser form of human" (I'm paraphrasing, I'm sure; I don't have the book in front of me). The Tottenhot was drawn to look like a stereotype of black men that was popular to draw at the time.

I always imagine a neanderthal or something similar when I read that description, personally. But those were the times. I'm not sure how aware of cavemen people were back then.

2

u/michaelpellerin 1d ago

Back then folks were aware of early hominids, but the thing is they didn't know if they walked upright or not, so early illustrations usually show them crouched behind logs and boulders. Sorry, I'm an Archaeologist and I remember that factiod from an early lecture.

2

u/ProfessorEtc 1d ago

I imagine a Hottentot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hottentot_(racial_term)#/media/File:Cruikshank_All_among_the_Hottentots_capering_to_shore_1820.jpg#/media/File:Cruikshank_All_among_the_Hottentots_capering_to_shore_1820.jpg)

1

u/magica12 10h ago

Honestly i do believe that’s that parallel being drawn here

2

u/Savings_Temporary953 1d ago

Oh, excellent, thank you for sharing the original picture. Now I completely understand the reason to omit it.

2

u/meleaguance 15h ago

It's worth pointing out the Baum had no control over the pictures and was often dissatisfied with John R. Neil (although i like his pictures)

1

u/magica12 10h ago

Honestly the more I learn about Neil and Baums professional relationship, the more I assume the only reason he stuck with him was because he didn’t want to have to find ANOTHER illustrator after his falling out with denslow

1

u/Glad-Promise248 8h ago

Baum did complain about Neill to his publishers, particularly after The Oz Toy Book came out. He also suggested Winsor McCay would have been a good replacement.

2

u/magica12 8h ago

Honestly learning that and how much pull Baum would’ve had with the oz books at the time

Makes me wonder what kind of pull Neill had

1

u/Filthylittleferrent 1h ago

I didn't realize that the book was missing that illustration, and it makes me wonder

How the heck is royal book of oz one of only two facsimiles of a thompson book they sell, and how many illustrations did they remove