Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll, Illustrated by John Tenniel, Later Edition, 1885

Carroll, Lewis. Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. London and New York: Macmillan and Co., 1885. Second edition printing. Illustrated by John Tenniel. Octavo. In original green cloth hardcover boards with decorative and lettered black and gilt inlay. With a new gilt-stamped archival slipcase. 

Presented is a stunning second edition printing of Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, by author Lewis Carroll and illustrated throughout by John Tenniel. The book was published by Macmillan and Co., based out of London and New York, in 1885. This 19th century volume has its original green cloth hardboards, with decorative and lettered black and gilt inlay on the front cover, as well as on the spine. It is presented with a new, gilt-stamped archival slipcase.

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. Through the Looking-Glass was first published by Macmillan in December of 1871. It was the first of the Alice stories to gain widespread popularity, and prompted a newfound appreciation for its predecessor when it was published. Through the Looking-Glass includes such celebrated verses as "Jabberwocky" and "The Walrus and the Carpenter", and the episode involving Tweedledum and Tweedledee. 

Set six months after the first tale, Carroll wrote Through the Looking-Glass as a mirror image of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. 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:

This 19th century volume has its original green cloth hardboards, with decorative and lettered black and gilt inlay on the front cover, as well as on the spine. Boards have been cleaned and have new joints and linings. 

Interior pages are healthy, considering age, with only light toning and a few scattered foxing marks. Many illustrations by John Tenniel including a full-page frontispiece, in-text illustrations, and head and tail pieces. 224, 12pp, plus original advertisements.

Presented with a new, archival gold-stamped slipcase. 

Dimensions:  7 1/2" H x 5 1/4" W x 1 1/8" D (Book). 7 7/8" H x 5 1/2" W x 1 3/8" D (Slipcase).