Alice's Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Illustrated by John Tenniel, 1927

Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1927. Illustrated by John Tenniel. Octavo. Presented in red leather boards, ruled and stamped in gilt on the front and back board, titled in gilt on the spine. All edges gilt. Illustrated with forty-two illustrations. Presented with a new archival slipcase. 

Presented is a beautiful later printing of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The book was published in New York by D. Appleton and Co., in 1927. A jewel of a book, it is presented in rich red leather boards, with gilt-stamped character illustrations and a gilt border to the front and back boards, a spine with gilt titles, and all edges gilt. Inside, the book is elaborately illustrated by John Tenniel, with 42 fanciful illustrations. 

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (January 1832-1898), better known by his pen name of Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, and mathematician. His famous children’s book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was first published in July of 1865. Carroll then wrote Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There as its sequel, published in 1871. Through the Looking-Glass was the first of the Alice stories to gain widespread popularity, and prompted a newfound appreciation for its predecessor when it was published. 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass were written as mirrored tales to one another. While Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland begins outside on a warm summer day, uses changes in size as a plot device, and the imagery of playing cards, Through the Looking-Glass begins indoors on a snowy November day, plays with time and spatial directions, and uses the imagery of chess.  

Adept at word play, logic, and fantasy, Carroll’s tales about Alice are prime examples of the literary nonsense genre. Bending logic and emphasizing the peculiar, Carroll often drew parallels between the fictional characters and real people, which created a type of parody of Victorian life and society. The book was beloved by children and adults alike, with readers such as Queen Victoria and Oscar Wilde among Carroll’s fan base. "Alice is, in a word, a book of that extremely rare kind which will belong to all the generations to come until the language becomes obsolete " (Carpenter & Prichard, 102).

CONDITION:

Near fine condition. Octavo. Presented in red leather boards, ruled and stamped in gilt on the front and back board, titled in gilt on the spine. Minor bumping at head and tailcap of spine, gilt strong on front and back boards but faded on spine. Two small stains to the spine cloth, one small stain on the back board. All edges gilt. Black endpapers, with a small paper label from previous Boston bookseller at bottom of the front flyleaf. Very clean pages, with no markings or tears. Minimal even toning. Illustrated with forty-two black and white illustrations.  192pp. Presented with a new archival slipcase.

Book Dimensions: 7 3/4" H x 5 3/8" W x 7/8" D .

Slipcase Dimensions: 8 1/16" H x 5 9/16" W x 1 1/4" D.

Accompanied by our company’s letter of authenticity.