The Nursery “Alice”

Lewis Carroll published “Alice’s Adventures in Wonder-land” in 1865 and “Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There” in 1872. In the entry in his diary for 15 February 1881 he records: “I wrote to Macmillan to suggest a new idea: a ‘Nursery Edition’ of Alice with pictures printed in.” On 20th February 1889, some eight years later, after much preparation and negotiation with both publisher and illustrator, the text was at last ready. The illustrator was John Tenniel, who coloured twenty of his original illustra-tions in “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” for this “Nursery Edition”. The front and back cover (reprinted here as the frontispiece and on page xiv) were designed by Carroll’s friend Emily Gertrude Thomson. The story itself is intended for pre-school children “aged from Nought to Five”. Running to just under 7,000 words, it is considerably shorter than both “Alice’s Adventures under Ground” (15,500 words) and “Alice’s Adventures in Wonder-land” (27,500 words). Much of the narrative consists of the author’s addressing the young listener, explaining the story by reference to the illustrations. The effect is rather charming, particularly where Carroll pokes fun at features in Tenniel’s illustrations. These were quite skilfully and attractively coloured.