Alice treasures in Oxford
manuscripts and first editions
Lewis Carroll was a friend of Thomas Combe, the director of the Oxford University Press. The Press still holds the account ledger for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, indicating that in July 1865 Carroll paid the Press almost £150 to print 2000 copies of his new book. About 50 copies were bound up immediately for Carroll to give to his friends, and 23 of these copies have survived, and they are among the rarest “first editions” in the world.
The illustrator, John Tenniel, was not happy with the printing of the first edition, and all the remaining copies from an initial print run of 2000 copies were withdrawn from sale. A new edition was printed in London, and was ready in November 1865, but dated 1866 on the title page.
Later, the American publishers Appleton & Co. purchased the remaining sheets of the suppressed “first edition.” They were bound in Oxford with a new title-page, and shipped to New York.
In 1928, Alice Liddell, the real Alice, sold the manuscript of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground (as it was first called) at Sotheby’s. It was bought by an American bookdealer who immediately sold it to the rich industrialist, Eldridge Johnson. Soon afterwards, Johnson arranged to have a very accurate facsimile made of the manuscript. Only 50 copies were bound, and all were given as gifts to Johnson’s friends. The original copy returned to England in 1948 when a group of American benefactors presented it to the British Library in appreciation of the British people's role in the Second World War.
The Bodleian Library
The Bodleian holds many editions of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, including one of the very rare “first editions” of the 1865 Alice. This copy belonged to “M. Combe” (probably Martha Combe, wife of Thomas Combe, director of the Press). It was presented to the Bodleian Library in 1986 by the author Roger Lancelyn Green.
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press still owns the copper electrotype for The Mouse’s Tale which appears in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Carroll had the tale/tail from the book typeset in a straight line with reducing font sizes (proofs are among the Christ Church collection), and he carefully cut and pasted this on to a board to make a curly tail to show the printer what he intended. This “concrete” or picture poem now appears in all copies of the book.
University of Oxford Museum of Natural History
Many of the characters in Alice are based on real people. Carroll adopted the character of the Dodo. He gave a copy of Alice to his friend, Robinson Duckworth, who came on the 4 July boat-picnic. In it he wrote “The Duck, from the Dodo.” Carroll almost certainly took the three sisters to see the remains of the extinct dodo in the Museum of Natural History.
University of Oxford Museum of the History of Science
Dodgson was an excellent photographer at a time when few people had cameras. His photographic chemical box, with his initials “C. L. D.” on the lid, is on display in this museum. His old glass-plate camera has not survived.
Museum of Oxford
Some of the personal belongings of Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell are on display here. Among their collection are two watches; one owned by Lewis Carroll, and one by Alice Liddell after she married and became Mrs Hargreaves. Lewis Carroll established an arrangement for his nephews and nieces, giving them a watch once they reached an age when they could appreciate the gift, so that, as he remarked, they would regard him as “their watchful uncle.”
Alice’s Shop
In Through the Looking-Glass Alice meets an old Sheep who is knitting and serving in a shop. Tenniel, who illustrated the book, drew a mirror image of a little grocery shop in St Aldates. It is now Alice’s Shop and sells Alice souvenirs.
Christ Church
In February 1855, Dodgson was made sub-librarian at Christ Church. His job was to help organise the books in the library and deal with loans of books to undergraduates. From his office window he could see the Deanery garden and it is from here that he probably first glimpsed the Liddell sisters playing in the garden below.
The dining hall has many connections with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. A high window shows portraits of Alice and creatures from the book, and brass ‘firedogs’ guarding the fire have long necks like that of Alice in the story. The white rabbit character is supposedly based upon the dean, Alice’s father.
We would like to thank Edward Wakeling (Lewis Carroll Society) and Martin Maw (Oxford University Press) in particular for their help in compiling this information.
