“THE GREATEST OF ALL ENGLISH STORIES FOR CHILDREN”

CARROLL, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. WITH: Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. London: Macmillan, 1934, 1931. Two volumes. Octavo, contemporary full green calf, elaborately gilt-decorated spines, gilt character centerpieces to boards, raised bands, red and green morocco spine labels, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. $2800.

Later edition of “the greatest of all English stories for children” (Muir, 139), with John Tenniel's original illustrations, finely bound by Riviere & Son in full calf-gilt with character emblems (the White Rabbit on the cover of Alice's Adventures, the Red Queen on the cover of Through the Looking-Glass).

"Historians of children's literature universally agree that the publication of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland marks the liberation of children's books from the restraining hand of the moralists… The two Alice books… completed the reinstatement of the imagination, so long disapproved of by the opponents of fairy stories, to its proper place. Alice is, in a word, a book of that extremely rare kind which will belong to all the generations to come until the language becomes obsolete" (Carpenter & Prichard, 102). Alice's Adventures in Wonderland first published 1866; Through the Looking-Glass, 1872. The first "miniature editions" of these works were published in 1907 and 1908 respectively. Contemporary owner gift inscription.

Light foxing to endpapers of Alice's Adventures, mild toning to spines, gilt quite bright. A beautiful set in very nearly fine condition.