"Disgraceful" first edition of Alice in Wonderland, rejected by book's illustrator, goes on public display
This article originally appeared on Culture24.
Curators say illustrator's disgust 150 years ago is understandable as first edition goes on show
The frontispiece for the first suppressed edition of Alice in Wonderland has gone on show© Bodleian Libraries, University of OxfordPrinting Alice is a free, eight-week display opening on July 1 at the Bodleian’s newly refurbished Weston Library and features copies of the first three editions of the much-loved children’s classic.
The first edition, which was printed 2,000 times in June 1865, is intriguing because of its rarity and very poor quality. Charles Dodgson - Lewis Carroll - requested 50 copies to be bound early, to inscribe and given to friends. A month later, the book’s illustrator, John Tenniel, complained about the printing, which he described as disgraceful.
“Seeing the first three editions alongside each other, you can really see what Tenniel didn’t like about the printing of the original illustrations and the marked improvements in the 1866 edition,” says Dr Francesca Galligan, the display’s curator.
The first edition was suppressed and Dodgson agreed to move publication from Clarendon Press in Oxford to London. He recalled the 50 copies and donated them to children’s homes.
Only 23 of these first editions survive today. The copy on display at the Bodleian was sent by Dodgson to St Raphael’s children’s home in Torquay before being donated to the library in 1986 by the writer Roger Lancelyn Green.
The three editions of Alice in Wonderland are supported by a range of works charting the career of Tennial and illustrations by made by Salvador Dali for a special edition of the novel.
The library is running a range of events as part of Oxford’s annual Alice’s Day on July 4, including five-minute pop-up talks from curators, Alice keepsake using the historic printing press and Emaki-mono scrolls and animations of Alice by Japanese artist Hiroko Hanna.
- You can see the exhibition until August 23 2015. Visit storymuseum.org.uk/alice for full details of the events.
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