ABSTRACT
One of the most popular novelists of the late nineteenth century was Sir H. Rider Haggard. While there has been no scholarship showing that L. Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz, was indebted to Haggard, there is little doubt that he was familiar with Haggard's work. This contention could easily be based on Baum's anonymous work, The Last Egyptian, but Haggard images are frequently found in other of Baum's writings, especially the Oz series. One of Haggard's most enduring characters is Ayesha, the She of his novel She. Baum uses the characteristics Haggard gave Ayesha to develop his Oz feminine characters.