Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Books of Wonder) - Hardcover

Carroll, Lewis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688110878 ISBN 13: 9780688110871

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1992

Synopsis

For over 125 years John Tenniel's superb illustrations for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland have been the perfect complement to Lewis Carroll's timeless story.

This edition is a wonderful high-quality version, the first to reproduce Tenniel's exquisite drawings from prints taken directly from the original wood engravings. Here, Tenniel's fine line work is far crisper, delicate shadings are reproduced with more subtlety, and details never seen before are now visible.

This is a deluxe gift edition with clearer, more detailed images than have ever been seen before. At last, readers can see the Alice that Carroll and Tenniel had originally envisioned.

When Alice follows the White Rabbit down his rabbit hole she embarks on the adventure of a lifetime. As she travels through Wonderland Alice learns that in the magical land of the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, and the Queen of Hearts, nothing is as it first appears.

About this title

About the Authors

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, published Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865 and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, in 1871. Considered a master of the genre of literary nonsense, he is renowned for his ingenious wordplay and sense of logic, and his highly original vision.

Sir John Tenniel briefly attended the Royal Academy Schools, but for the most part he was a self taught artist. His illustrations appeared regularly in Punch, but it was the Alice books that confirmed his international reputation as an illustrator. Tenniel was knighted in 1893.

Paul O. Zelinsky is the illustrator of many acclaimed books for children. He is the illustrator of Kelly Bingham's Z Is for Moose and Circle, Square, Moose; Jack Prelutsky's Awful Ogre's Awful Day; Emily Jenkins's Toys Go Out; Alex London's Still Life; and Anne Isaac's Dust Devil. He is also the creator of the now-classic interactive book The Wheels on the Bus. His retelling of Rapunzel was awarded the 1998 Caldecott Medal. Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, and Swamp Angel, with different authors, all garnered him a Caldecott Honor. Paul O. Zelinsky lives with his wife in Brooklyn, New York.

Peter Glassman is the owner of Books of Wonder, the New York City bookstore and publisher specializing in new and old imaginative books for children. He is also the editor of the Books of Wonder Classics, a series of deluxe facsimiles and newly illustrated editions of timeless tales. And he is the author of The Wizard Next Door, illustrated by Steven Kellogg. Mr. Glassman lives in New York City.

From the Back Cover

"What is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures?"

For over 125 years John Tenniel's superb illustrations for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland have been the perfect complement to Lewis Carroll's timeless story. In that time Alice has been illustrated by numerous artists, but not one has come close to matching the universal appeal of the original pictures.

This is the first Alice to reproduce Ternniel's exquisite drawings from prints taken directly from the original wood engravings. Here, Tenniel's fine line work is far crisper, delicate shadings are reproduced with more subtlety, and details never seen before are now visible.

Like most nineteenth-century children's books, the pictures for Alice were created by transferring the artist's drawings to woodblocks, But with Alice, the original blocks served as masters from which metal plates were made for printing. Unfortunately, these plates deteriorated from the repeated pressure applied during printing, and over time, many of the fine lines in Tenniel's pictures simply vanished altogether.As the year-, passed, the original woodblocks disappeared and were believed lost; then, in 1985 they were discovered in a London bank vault.

Now, for the first time, prints from these woodblocks have been used to produce a deluxe gift edition with clearer, more detailed images than have ever been seen before. At last, readers can see the Alice that Carroll and Tenniel had originally envisioned.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0688110878
• ISBN 13: 9780688110871
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Tenniel Sir John, Zelinsky Paul O
• Number of pages: 208