Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass - Softcover

Carroll, Lewis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0747564965 ISBN 13: 9780747564966

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2003

Synopsis

Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass have captivated the imagination of adults and children alike since they first appeared more than a hundred years ago. Since that time many artist have attempted to capture their dreamlike combination of impossible events, precise detail and weird logic. Mervyn Peake is on of the few to have succeeded. Famed worldwide for his Gormenghast trilogy, Mervyn Peake was also an illustrator of rare and wondrous talent, whose editions of Treasure Island and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner are universally admired. In the 1940s he was commissioned to produce a set of 70 pen-and-ink drawings to accompany Lewis Carroll's two classics, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. They are among his best work as an illustrator. Unavailable in any edition since 1978, these extraordinary illustrations, many of which were drawn on poor quality wartime paper, have been restored to their former clarity and crispness by a combination of old-fashioned craft and the latest computer technology. They are now meticulously reproduced, for the first time, as they were meant to be seen. This exquisite two-volume set is the first edition to do justice to two great English eccentrics.

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Review

"And what is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations?"

Taking to heart his charming, insatiably curious heroine's words, Lewis Carroll worked many long hours (days, months...) with illustrator Sir John Tenniel to create the most perfect pictures imaginable for what were to become instant classics: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. When thinking about Alice and her dreamy surrealistic adventures down the rabbit hole and behind the looking-glass, who can help picturing the golden-haired girl in her lilac dress and striped stockings, gazing up at the Cheshire Cat or arguing with Tweedledum and Tweedledee? Tenniel's drawings remained black and white for over 40 years until 1911, when eight prints in each book were hand colored. Now, for the first time, every remaining illustration has been colored, making these the first editions to feature all of the original art in full color. Traditionalists need not worry: colorist Diz Wallis colored proofs taken from Tenniel's carefully preserved woodblocks, remaining faithful to his original drawings. The beautiful tones of these new hardcover editions look as natural as can be; they could just as easily be from the 19th century. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter

From the Publisher

6 1-hour cassettes

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0747564965
• ISBN 13: 9780747564966
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 1