William Wallace Denslow

William Wallace Denslow (/ˈdɛnsloʊ/; May 5, 1856 – March 29, 1915), is known as W. W. Denslow. He was an American illustrator and caricaturist. He was born in Philadelphia. He had some art school training, but he was mostly self-taught. He designed books and posters. Denslow illustrated L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and other books by Baum. They parted after an argument over copyright royalties.

Denslow in 1900

Denslow illustrated Denslow's Mother Goose in 1901, and Denslow's Night Before Christmas in 1902. He illustrated the 18-volume Denslow's Picture Books series in 1903–04. He drew comic strips with Father Goose, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman as characters. He created the comic strip "Billy Bounce". Billy was one of the first comics characters with superpowers. Denslow bought Buck's Island, Bermuda. He crowned himself King Denslow I. He was married three times and had one son. He died in New York City of pneumonia.

Other websites

• Works by William Wallace Denslow at Project Gutenberg
• Hearn, Michael Patrick. “The Man Behind the Man Behind Oz: W.W. Denslow at 150” AIGA July 5, 2006. Archived May 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
• DHS Denslow Seahorse at www.dardhunter.com
• Find a Grave