Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

London: William Heinmann, 1907. Deluxe edition. Near Fine. Number 778 of 1130 copies (30 of which were reserved for presentation), with all 13 color plates on heavy brown paper and 14 illustrations in black and white. Bound in cream publisher's cloth with gilt title and decorations; top edges gilt, other edges untrimmed. A lovely, Near Fine copy of the book with the spine a bit toned and some offsetting to the end papers, otherwise bright and fresh.

"On the surface, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a paradise of puns, paradoxes, and anthropomorphism. Underneath, it is a deeply honest portrayal of childhood and adulthood. What unites Carroll's (truncated) wordplay and analytical anomalies with truth is Alice. Wearing a simple, traditional knee-length dress and pinafore, Alice is more complex and daring than her apparel. She talks to herself (typical of a creative child), is startled by her changing height (a parody of puberty), fumbles through strange, increasingly grown up encounters, and remains honest and curious all the while. She is courageous in the act of growing up...Carroll's classic is an absurd yet magnificently perceptive form of entertainment unlike anything that came before or even after it" (Allen). Alice's impact was immediate. At a time when most children's books were highly didactic and focused on clear-cut morality, Wonderland offered something new and fantastical; it gave young readers an opportunity to be amused, to sort through logical puzzles, and to imagine a world unlike any other in literature. Thanks in part to Carroll, "children's books entered a new, more fantastical phase: instruction with delight" (Allen).

Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) is perhaps the most acclaimed and influential illustrators of the Golden Age of Illustration. A prolific artist even from his youth, Rackham got his start as an illustrator working for the Westminster Budget Newspaper (1892). Over the next few years, he took on more and more commissions for children’s books, hitting his career high in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Rackham turned his imaginative pen to every classic—from Shakespeare to Dickens to Poe. Rackham's version Alice's Adventures in Wonderland transports the reader with his classic magical, colorful, and uncanny style. This edition was unsigned during issue. It remains an unforgettable adaptation.

Riall 77. Near Fine. (Inventory #: 6790)