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William Wallace Denslow (5 May 1856 – 27 May 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 a quarrel over copyright royalties.
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.
The Black Sheep, from a 1901 edition of Mother Goose
Dorothy meets the Cowardly Lion, from the first edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
The footstone of William Wallace Denslow in Kensico Cemetery, featuring his seahorse insignia and images of the Scarecrow and Tin Woodsman
Denslow's illustration for "There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe", from a 1901 edition of Mother Goose.
