Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

London: Macmillan and Co., 1881. Cloth. Good. 7.5" by 5". John Tenniel . A scarce early edition of this highly influential work of children's fiction, complete with the original charming illustrations by John Tenniel. With publisher's advertisement to the rear of the work. Sixty Seventh Thousand. Complete, with forty two charming illustrations by John Tenniel depicting the many much-loved scenes including The Mad Hatter's Tea Party and The White Rabbit looking at his pocket watch. Upon the original publication of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865, Tenniel was far more well-known than Carroll, owing to his successful career as an illustrator and cartoonist, including many pieces for the satirical periodical 'Punch'. Tenniel also illustrated the sequel, 'Alice Through The Looking Glass' and the coloured revised illustrations for 'The Nursery Alice'. Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson) was a mathematician and author best known for this work, and its sequel 'Alice Through the Looking-Glass'. The work is credited as perhaps the greatest example of literary nonsense and whilst the work was meant for children (indeed the tale was originally told to a friend's daughter, Alice Liddell) the word play, logic and fantastical themes present in the work have interested and delighted scholars since its publication. This work is a scarce and early example of an influential and charming piece of Victorian children's literature. In the original red publisher's cloth with gilt detail to the spine and front board, depicting Alice holding a pig. Externally smart with slight bumping to the extremities and the head and tail of the spine resulting in some slight loss to the cloth. Small areas of damp staining to the head and tail of the spine. Handling marks to the boards. Slight rubbing to the boards resulting in some slight loss to the gilt. Hinges slightly strained but firm. Internally firmly bound. Pages generally bright and clean. Tidemarks to the extremities of pages 99 to 107, not affecting the text. Handling marks to the pages. The odd spot to the pages, heavier to the first and last few pages. Good