The Illustrated Alice in Wonderland (The Golden Age of Illustration Series)

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Illustration to the fourth chapter of Alice in Wonderland by John Tenniel. Wood-engraving by Thomas Dalziel. The pictures are far too bright and gaudy, and vulgarise the whole thing. None must be sold in England: to do so would be to sacrifice whatever reputation I now have for giving the public the best I can. Mr. Evans must begin again, & print 10,000 with Tenniel’s coloured pictures before him: and I must see all the proofs this time: and then we shall have a book really fit to offer to the public … The picture at p. 44 is enough by itself, to spoil the whole book! While Sewell appears to have done several illustrations, I’d like to focus on his illustrations for 1975 Alitjinya ngura Tjukurtjarangka / Alitji in the Dreamtime translated by Nancy Sheppard into Pitjantjatjara. It’s called Aboriginal Alice but the illustrations are quite unique. University of Maryland notes: “Byron’s illustrations are brilliantly modeled on the mystical bark painting of the indigenous peoples of the Northern territory.” The white rabbit has become a kangaroo with a watch inside his belly. Jan Švankmajer Hearn, Michael. “Alice’s Other Parent: Sir John Tenniel as Lewis Carroll’s Illustrator”. American Book Collector, May/June 1983. Alice in Wonderland Press Out Toy Theatre, with colored figures [based on Tenniel illustrations] and stage to be constructed. Tower Press, "No. 446, British made", 1950

The book has such a phenomenal number of ideas and concepts in it, but it creates space for the creativity too," says Bailey. "It really is this Bible for the imagination."Gordon, Colin (1982). Beyond the Looking Glass: Reflections of Alice and Her Family. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN 0-15-112022-6. OCLC 9557843. The Queen of Hearts’ dress is in fact not modelled after the outfit of a 19th century Queen of Hearts playing card, but the dress of a Queen of Spades card ( Hancher)! It is unclear whether Tenniel intentionally chose another suit as a model for the queen’s outfit. The incredible example of cultural cross-pollination is enhanced with essays by mathematician and Dalí collaborator Thomas Banchoff andMark Burstein, president of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America. Alice has long been a touchstone for fashion, too. Vivienne Westwood, Zac Posen, Viktor & Rolf, and John Galliano have all sent looks down the runway inspired by Caroll's characters and Tenniel's drawings, while the transformative, otherworldly possibilities of Wonderland hold appeal for fashion shoots.

Reid, Forrest. Illustrators of the Eighteen Sixties: An Illustrated Survey of the Work of 58 British Artists (1928). New York: Dover Publications, 1975. Tenniel may even have added his own subtle references in the illustrations: read about the origins behind Tenniel’s illustrations. The making of the illustrations for Alice’s Adventures in WonderlandThough he did not illustrate a full edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, German surrealist painter Max Ernst was greatly inspired by the children’s novel and created many works based on Carroll’s book. Ernst’s interest in the story may have been sparked by his experience as a French prisoner of war in 1936, which he related heavily to the novel’s themes of escape and distant lands. He continued to make art in direct reference to Alice for much of his life after that, until 1970. One striking example of this is his painting Alice in 1941 (1941), depicting the titular Alice in a surrealist natural world, which appears to be painted red in reference to Carroll’s novel. Painting the roses red has many different meanings in the novel and pop culture, and here it adds a sense of illusion and disguises to Ernst’s artwork.