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Distributed for Bodleian Library Publishing

The Making of Lewis Carroll’s Alice and the Invention of Wonderland

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass are two of the most famous, translated, and quoted books in the world. What began as a simple tale told by eccentric Oxford mathematician Charles Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll) to Alice Liddell, daughter of the Dean of Christ Church, become a worldwide phenomenon. Fostering film adaptations and retellings, and influencing countless other works, the Alice books have a deeply cherished place in popular culture. Known for their oddities and absurdities, the books have been endlessly interpreted and analyzed for symbolism and hidden messages.

Peter Hunt cuts away the psychological speculation that has grown up around the Alice books, and instead traces the historical sources of their multilayered in-jokes and political, literary, and philosophical satire. He situates the books in the history of children’s literature and explores the local and personal references that the real Alice would have understood. Equally fascinating are the rich fragments about everything from the “sensation” novel to Darwinian theory—not to mention Dodgson’s personal feelings—that he wove into the books as they developed.

Illustrated with manuscripts, portraits, Sir John Tenniel’s original line drawings for the first editions, and contemporary photographs, this is an innovative look at two remarkable stories. The Making of Lewis Carroll’s Alice and the Invention of Wonderland takes us on a guided tour from the treacle wells of Victorian Oxford through an astonishing world of politics, philosophy, humor, and nightmare.


128 pages | 67 color plates | 6 3/4 x 8 1/4 | © 2020

The Making Of

Literature and Literary Criticism: Asian Languages, British and Irish Literature


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Reviews

"This attractive and ingeniously illustrated little volume. . .will add much enjoyment to reading and thinking about this remarkable book."

Kimberley Reynolds, Newcastle University

Table of Contents

Contents


Charles and Lewis: ‘With a name like yours, you might be any shape, almost.’

Prelude: ‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’

1 Two Men and Three Girls in a Boat

2 Before Alice

3 What Alice Knew

4 Outside Charles Dodgson

5 Inside Charles Dodgson

6 From Oxford to the World


Notes
Bibliography
Picture Credits
Index

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