Why was The Wonderful Wizard of Oz the only Oz book Denslow illustrated?
Baum and Denslow had shared the copyright on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the rest of the books they had worked on together. Unfortunately, after a few years, they found they didn’t always see eye-to-eye on everything, and also that they could both succeed without the other — both had many successful post-Wizard solo projects. Denslow also did some of his own work with Baum’s characters, which did not please Baum. But the final nail in the coffin of their relationship proved to be over the 1902 musical stage version of The Wizard of Oz. Baum wrote the script, many of the songs, and was instrumental in lining up a producer. Denslow only designed the sets and costumes, and created some promotional art. Nevertheless, he contended that, as joint holder of the book’s copyright, he should get half of the play’s royalties. While he didn’t get quite that much, he did get more than Baum felt he deserved. After his problems with Denslow, Baum vowed not to work with him again, nor to allow any
