Limited Edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Signed by "Alice"

Lot Details & Additional Photographs

Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson]; John Tenniel, illus. ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1932. Signed limited edition; no. 1397 of 1500 printed copies; of these copies, this is one of approximately 500 that were signed by Alice Hargreaves, the original "Alice," on an inserted leaf after half title. Hardcover. Full red morocco decorated in gilt, spine gilt-lettered and decorated, with all edges gilt; in publisher's blue cloth slipcase. 8vo; [i-iv], v-xi, [xii-xiv], [1-3], 4-182, [4]pp. Wood engravings by Bruno Rollitz of John Tenniel's original illustrations.

9 1/8 x 6 1/4 in. in slipcase

Lewis Carroll (born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson in 1832) knew Alice Hargreaves (born Liddell) in her youth and was friends with her family. He frequently photographed Alice and her siblings, and the character of Alice came from a story Carroll told the Liddell children while entertaining them one summer afternoon in 1862. He later wrote the story down under the title Alice's Adventures Under Ground. This soon became Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, first published in 1865.

This Limited Editions Club edition was published at the time of the 100th anniversary of Carroll's birth. Mrs. Hargreaves traveled to the U.S. for the occasion and arrived just days before her 80th birthday. The LEC requested to have Mrs. Hargreaves sign copies of this edition for members interested in paying an extra fee to have the autograph of the "original 'Alice'." Hargreaves, who had avoided signing her name on materials related to Carroll's book throughout her life, signed several hundred copies of this LEC edition, making these volumes particularly special and collectible.

Handsome binding with a few small areas rubbed (heaviest at spine ends with some additional light cracking), spine slightly darkened, and a couple of subtle marks to boards; lovely and clean interior with only light wear including a couple of minor marks or spots of grime, mild foxing (concentrated on endpapers, fore-edge, and colophon), offsetting from a newspaper clipping on pages 88-89, and endpapers with minor discoloration; slipcase with wear to corners, heavy discoloration, and a few relatively minor scuffs, marks, and dents. A very good plus copy in a good slipcase. Signed copies of this book are scarce, especially in the original case.