DODGSON, Charles Lutwidge (“Lewis Carroll”) (1832-1898). Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. London: Macmillan and Co., 1866 [1865]. 8vo (191 x 122 mm).
Half-title, with 42 illustrations by John Tenniel. Full crushed red levant with gilt borders, butterfly and bee cornerpieces, spine in 6 compartments with raised bands, gilt-lettering in two, others decorated in gilt, gilt edges, dentelles, marbled endpapers; original cloth bound in at end. (Some light soiling to half title and title at outer margin, else fine).
Provenance: Sotheby’s London, November 1-2, 1937, Lot 63; Max Charles Gaines (1894-1947), bookplate of co-publisher of All-American Publications, who is considered the pioneering figure in the creation of the modern comic book. His son was the legendary Bill Gaines, publisher and co-editor of EC Comics and Mad magazine.
SECOND EDITION (i.e. FIRST AUTHORIZED EDITION) and First Published English Edition, earliest state with the inverted “S” in the last line of the Contents page. For this new edition published November 1865 (but dated 1866 for the Christmas market) the book was re-set by the printer Richard Clay from a copy of the suppressed 1865 Alice, forming the basis for all future Macmillan editions.
PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY DODGSON TO BRITISH ILLUSTRATOR RICHARD DOYLE (1824-1883) on the half-title using his real name which is exceedingly rare as Dodgson was careful to protect his privacy and to prevent his serious mathematical works from being linked with his books for children. As early as August 1866 Dodgson entertained the thought of writing a sequel to Alice’s Adventures which would use up what he remembered of several more stories told to the three Liddell girls. Dodgson had difficulty finding an artist to illustrate the work as Tenniel refused to do it, insisting that one book by Lewis Carroll was all he felt, in 1866, that he could stand. Dodgson then visited the artists of the day, beginning with Doyle (well-known for being the uncle of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes stories) at the advice from Tenniel (see Handbook p. 63), who in the year prior (1866) was sent this presentation copy of Alice (see Letters, p. 36 footnote). In one of his diary entries dated 24 January 1867, Dodgson wrote: “Called on [Richard] Doyle, and discussed the idea of his illustrating Alice [i.e. Through the Looking-Glass: Dodgson generally found his artist before writing his book]. He seems willing to undertake it, but not certain that he could get them done by next Christmas. We left the matter unsettled for the present” (see Diaries p. 249). Dodgson ultimately decided that “Tenniel is the man”, and in June 1868 Tenniel consented to illustrate it.
Green, Lewis Carroll pp. 46-56; Grolier Children’s One Hundred, 35; Lovett 3; PMM 354 (note); Williams 10; Williams-Madan-Green-Crutch 46.
[With:] DODGSON. Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. London: Macmillan and Co., 1872 [1871]. 8vo (181 x 121 mm). Half-title, one-page publisher’s ad for Dodgson’s works on Q1v; frontispiece and illustrations by John Tenniel. Uniformly bound as the title above. (Some spotting to half-title, few tiny spots or soiling to first few pages, else fine). Provenance: Max Charles Gaines (1894-1947), bookplate. FIRST EDITION, FIRST STATE of p. 21, with the misprint “wade” for “wabe” in the second line of the poem “Jabberwocky”, and with the pagination for page 95 but lacking the pagination for page 98 (no priority). Lovett 13; Williams-Madan-Green-Crutch 84.