Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll – 1872 | Tenniel Illustrated

Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was met with great acclaim when the first edition was released, and its popularity has hardly dwindled since. Where most Victorian children’s literature was educational or moralizing, Lewis’s fantasy story sought to entertain and delight. The whimsical story of a no-nonsense English girl who finds herself in a land of absurd rules and inconsistent logic was enhanced with forty-two illustrations by John Tenniel. These iconic drawings of figures such as the Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, and the Red Queen became widely recognized in popular culture, leading to numerous adaptations on stage and in film. This copy is an early first edition, as part of the twenty-ninth thousand printing.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. With forty-two illustrations by John Tenniel.
• Author: Lewis Carroll
• Illustrator: John Tenniel
• Publisher: New York & London: Macmillan and Co.
• Edition: First edition, twenty-ninth thousand printing, 1872
• Binding: Original red cloth binding
• Format: Duodecimo (12mo), single volume
• Size: ~ 7.5in x 5.25in (19cm x 13cm)
• Collation: [10], 192, [2]
• Illustrations: 42 illustrations
• Contents Include:
  • Full text of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
  • Illustrated scenes with by John Tenniel
• Provenance: Handwritten, “Russell, Vine House”
• Reference(s): PMM 354; Carroll Handbook 44

Condition:

Good condition. Original red cloth binding is faded and scuffed, with moderate edgewear. Hinges have been repaired to be secure, and the text block is tight. The pages are uniformly age-toned, with moderate spotting throughout, but otherwise clean.

Why Collect This?

• Early printing of first edition
• Features Tenniel’s original illustrations
• Popular among collectors of Victorian children’s books

Item Number: #31323