Alice Illustrated

120 Images from the Classic Tales of Lewis Carroll

Jeff A. Menges, Mark Burstein

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9780486482040
• eBook ISBN: 9780486267524
• Topic: Design
• Subtopic: Art General

Few books of the past 200 years have captured the imagination of illustrators as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has. The original edition of Lewis Carroll's 1865 masterpiece featured 42 woodblock engravings by John Tenniel. Created in close collaboration with the author, Tenniel's visions of the young heroine and her extraordinary encounters were but the first of many interpretations of Wonderland. This compilation explores a century and a half of exuberant, imaginative artistic conceptions of Alice's world.
More than 100 images include Tenniel's engravings, along with color and black-and-white illustrations by Arthur Rackham, Charles Robinson, Bessie Pease Gutmann, Margaret Tarrant, Millicent Sowerby, Milo Winter, Thomas Maybank, and many others. Editor Jeff Menges offers commentary on the illustrators and their work, and noted collector Mark Burstein shares a bibliophile's perspective. A major contribution to the history of modern book illustration, Alice Illustrated will delight lovers of English literature and children's books, collectors of Lewis Carroll's works, and fans of the great illustrators.

The Plates

Sir John Tenniel (1820–1914)
1865 and 1872

Sir John Tenniel’s importance to the visuals of Wonderland cannot be overstated. As the story’s original illustrator in 1865, Tenniel created 42 line pieces that depicted all of the significant characters. The book’s huge success made Tenniel’s illustrations definitive for Alice, and it is likely that Tenniel’s edition has been available in reprint form continuously since its original publication. When Carroll’s “revisit” to Wonderland in Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There came up in 1872, Tenniel initially turned down Carroll’s offer to illustrate it. While both author and illustrator had benefited greatly from the success of Wonderland, they had many disagreements on its depiction, which caused Tenniel to pass up the offer. Only after Carroll’s unsuccessful attempts to attract another illustrator (possibly due to his reputation for being difficult, or the looming task of following the iconic Tenniel drawings) did Tenniel agree.

Originally better known for magazine illustration—Tenniel was for some time a staff illustrator for Punch—he produced or contributed to several illustrated books before his fame with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, including Undine and Aesop’s Fables.

The White Rabbit, and Alice

SIR JOHN TENNIEL

The King and Queen of Hearts were seated on their throne

SIR JOHN TENNIEL

a. “Curiouser and curiouser!” b. Scurried away into the darkness as hard as he could go
c. “Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you’re at!”
d. “Hand it over here,” said the Dodo

SIR JOHN TENNIEL

a. Advice from a caterpillar b. “There goes Bill!”
c. And yet you incessantly stand on your head—

SIR JOHN TENNIEL

The Jabberwock

SIR JOHN TENNIEL

Peter Newell (1862–1924)
1901

More than one American publisher produced an edition while the British copyright was still in place. The Harper and Brothers edition with illustrations by Peter Newell was published in 1901, followed by sister volumes of Through the Looking Glass and The Hunting of the Snark. While Newell produced an elaborate and fresh edition, with halftone images and intricate repeating decorations, its reception was mixed, largely due to the complete dominance that the Tenniel drawings had stamped on the story.

Whereas Tenniel’s background had largely been political satire and caricature, Newell was more of a pure cartoonist, telling a visual story for the humor it might provide. He created many children’s books that used visual devices to further their uniqueness and is seen as a pioneer in children’s humor publishing.

“Now I’m opening out like the largest telescope that ever was!”

On various pretexts they all ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Notes on the Illustrations
• The Plates
• Back Cover