PLEASE NOTE: THIS SET HAS BEEN TOGETHER SINCE 1884 AS EVIDENCED BY THE SAME GIFT INSCRIPTION FROM "PAPA AND MAMA" DATED 1884 IN EACH.
ALICE'S ADVENTURES
IN
WONDERLAND
This auction is for an original 1882 edition of "ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND" by Lewis Carroll. YOU'LL LOVE THIS BOOK!!! It is filled with 42 ILLUSTRATIONS!!! by the original "Alice" artist, Sir JOHN TENNIEL. It is a work of children's literature by the English mathematician and author, Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, written under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells the story of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit-hole into a fantasy realm populated by talking playing cards and anthropomorphic creatures. The tale is fraught with satirical allusions to Dodgson's friends and to the lessons that British schoolchildren were expected to memorize. The Wonderland described in the tale plays with logic in ways that have made the story of lasting popularity with adults as well as children. A girl named Alice is bored while on a picnic with her older sister. She finds interest in a passing white rabbit, dressed in a waistcoat and muttering "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" She follows it down a rabbit-hole where she finds herself floating down into a dream underworld. As she attempts to follow the rabbit, she has several adventures. She grows to gigantic size and shrinks to a fraction of her original height; meets a group of small animals stranded in a sea of her own previously shed tears; gets trapped in the rabbit's house when she enlarges herself again; meets a baby which changes into a pig, and a cat which disappears leaving only his smile behind; goes to a never-ending tea party; goes to the shore and meets a Gryphon and a Mock Turtle; and attends the trial of the Knave of Hearts, who has been accused of stealing tarts. Eventually, Alice wakes up back with her sister. Published in 1882, this rare classic book is in FAIRLY GOOD CONDITION!!! for its age and especially to be 127 YEARS OLD!!! ALL PAGES ARE PRESENT!!! with no markings, other than a gift inscription from "Papa and Mama" dated 1884. Its notable flaws are minor: the pages are tanned due to age, the paper covering the interior hinge is gently cracked, there is an open tear on the frontispiece in the margin that does not reach the illustration, and there is a half inch closed tear in the margin of the half title page. Early "Alice" books are very scarce and in high demand so...GET IT WHILE YOU CAN!!!
As an ADDED BONUS!!!, we are including FREE!!! an original 1883 edition of "THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS" by Lewis Carroll, the sequel to Alice in Wonderland. It is filled with 50 ILLUSTRATIONS!!! by the original "Alice" artist, Sir JOHN TENNIEL. There are many mirror themes in the story, including opposites, time running backwards, and so on. Whereas the first book has a deck of cards as its theme, this book is loosely based on a game of chess, played on a giant chessboard with fields for squares. Alice ponders what the world is like on the other side of a mirror, and to her surprise, is able to pass through to experience the alternate world. She discovers a book with looking-glass poetry, "Jabberwocky," which she can read only by holding it up to a mirror. Upon leaving the house, she enters a garden, where the flowers speak to her and mistake her for a flower. There, Alice also meets the Red Queen, who offers a throne to Alice if she just moves to the eighth rank in a chess match. Alice is placed as the White Queen's pawn, and begins the game by taking a train to the fourth rank, since pawns in chess can move two spaces on the first move. She then meets Tweedledum and Tweedledee, of whom she knows from the famous nursery rhyme. After reciting to her the long poem, "The Walrus and the Carpenter," the two proceed to act out the events of their own poem. Alice continues on to meet the White Queen, who is very absent-minded and later transforms into a sheep. The following chapter details her meeting with Humpty Dumpty, who explains to her the meaning of "Jabberwocky" before his inevitable fall from the wall. This is followed by an encounter with the Lion and the Unicorn, who again proceed to act out a nursery rhyme. She is then rescued from the Red Knight by the White Knight, who many consider to be a representation of Lewis Carroll himself. At this point, she reaches the eight rank and becomes a queen, and by capturing the Red Queen, puts the Red King (who has remained stationary throughout the book) into checkmate. She then awakes from her dream (if it was a dream) and blames her black kitten (the white kitten was wholly innocent) for the mischief caused by the story. The two kittens are the children of Dinah, Alice's cat in the first book. Published in 1883, this classic book is in VERY GOOD CONDITION! for its age and especially to 126 YEARS OLD!!! And it is ONE OF THE FIRST 50,000 PRINTED!!! ALL PAGES ARE PRESENT!!! and tightly bound with NO TEARS!!! or any markings, other than a gift inscription from "Papa and Mama" dated 1884. Its most notable flaw is tanning between the front free endpapers where the gift inscription is, due to something being laid in at one time. This is a nice set seldom seen offered together so...GET IT WHILE YOU CAN!!!
GOOD LUCK!!!
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Those of you familiar with our auctions may wonder what we're doing including "ALICE IN WONDERLAND" in our auctions? Well, the original manuscript for this classic bedtime story was written right in the middle of the Civil War, in 1862. This is what ordinary Americans were reading as entertainment at the time. It provided temporary escape and relief from the ravages of the War. The Author: Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, was a mathematician and a logician who lectured at Oxford for some 26 years. He was also an accomplished photographer and a Church Deacon. Dodgson's pen name was Lewis Carroll. Dodgson first told the story during a 2½ hour rowing trip with friends on July 4th, 1862. He created the story on the spur of the moment to entertain the three young daughters of the Dean of Christ Church at Oxford, (Alice, Lorina, and Edith Liddell). 10 year old Alice later pleaded with Carroll to commit the story to paper. He completed it the following February. This first manuscript, called "Alice's Adventures Underground" is thought to have probably been destroyed in 1864 when, on November 26th 1864, Dodgson presented Alice Liddell with a more elaborate hand-printed second version which included 37 of his own illustrations as a Christmas present. Reverend Dodgson later showed the tale to his friend George Macdonald, who urged him to publish it. He then revised and expanded the tale to almost twice its length. This third version was published by Macmillan and Co. in London, on July 4th, 1865. Sir John Tenniel was the artist who agreed to illustrate the revised and expanded text which was now called Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Tenniel's black and white illustrations were made for the reproductive process known as wood-engraving. For more history about this book, check out this site:
http://the-office.com/bedtime-story/alice-background.htm
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Please see our other books too! On Nov-08-09 at 03:11:13 PST, seller added the following information:
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