Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Illustrated by Marta Maszkiewicz)

By Lewis Carroll and Marta Maszkiewicz

This complete and unabridged edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland includes:

• 12 unique illustrations

• Introduction explaining how the story came to be

• Biography of the author containing little known facts

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Language Mastery Publishing
• Release date: Jul 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781950321414

Lewis Carroll

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, published Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865 and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, in 1871. Considered a master of the genre of literary nonsense, he is renowned for his ingenious wordplay and sense of logic, and his highly original vision.

Book preview

First published by Macmillan in 1865

This edition including all illustrations copyright © 2022 by Eric Bodnar. All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

Table of Contents

Introduction

About the Author

All in the Golden Afternoon

Chapter 1: Down the Rabbit-Hole

Chapter 2: The Pool of Tears

Chapter 3: A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale

Chapter 4: The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill

Chapter 5: Advice from a Caterpillar

Chapter 6: Pig and Pepper

Chapter 7: A Mad Tea-Party

Chapter 8: The Queen's Croquet-Ground

Chapter 9: The Mock Turtle's Story

Chapter 10: The Lobster Quadrille

Chapter 11: Who Stole the Tarts?

Chapter 12: Alice's Evidence

INTRODUCTION

How did a novel made up of literary nonsense become one of the most well-known and beloved stories of all time? Despite the creation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland more than 150 years ago, it remains extremely popular among children and adults of all ages. Even with out-dated references to Victorian England, the story has managed to transcend all cultural boundaries and grown to be more influential than ever in the 21st century. And it all started with a simple boat trip.

It is in the prelude to the novel titled All in the Golden Afternoon that we learn about the origins of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. On route from Oxford to Godstow for a picnic, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll) was accompanied by his friend Reverend Robinson Duckworth and the three daughters of his friend Harry Liddell (referred to in the prelude as Prima, Secunda, and Tertia).Their real names, however, were Edith (age 8), Alice (age 10), and Lorina (age 13).

To entertain the Liddell sisters, Carroll improvised a series of adventures about a girl named Alice who fell into a rabbit hole and entered a fantasy world full of nonsense. They were originally separate tales set in the same world with no overarching plot. For many months, the passing stories remained unwritten and unrecorded and would have remained so had it not been for Alice Liddell.

She was so impressed by the series of stories that she asked Carroll to write them all down and encouraged him to publish them into a single book. Charmed and taken by the young girl's plea, Carroll did just so and presented her the manuscript that included hand-drawn illustrations as an early Christmas gift in November 1864. This early draft of the story was titled Alice’s Adventures Under Ground.

Curious to receive opinions of the work he had just completed, he sent a copy to the author George MacDonald whom he had a close relationship with. After hearing overwhelming positive feedback from MacDonald and his family, it was then he decided to pursue publishing the story as a commercial work.

Realizing his drawings were far too crude for an official publication, Carroll enlisted the help of John Tenniel, a professional illustrator working as a cartoonist for the popular British humor magazine Punch. It is through Tenniel's illustrations that modern TV, movie, and theatre adaptations of Alice in Wonderland draw inspiration from. This includes everything from the classic blue and white dress Alice wears to the goofy and eccentric appearance of the Mad Hatter to the entire fantasy world imagined by Carroll.

Over the years since its first publication in 1865, many talented artists have lovingly created their own interpretations of the characters and the world each adding their own personal style and touch. This includes the well-known Disney film adaptation as well as the detailed and realistic portraits by Arthur Rackham. Even Salvador Dali offered his own distinct interpretation of Alice in Wonderland in a series of surrealist paintings.

In this illustrated edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, we sought to provide our own fingerprint to the imaginations of Lewis Carroll. With the limitless potential of the world of Wonderland, we took advantage of this creative liberty to render our own version. And as such, each chapter includes one illustration of a major scene from that chapter. We hope you enjoy these illustrations along with the unabridged and complete version of the novel.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 - 14 January 1898), more commonly known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was a scholar and lecturer of mathematics at Christ Church in Oxford. Despite his high capability and intellect as a distinguished professor in the public eye, it is his private work that has earned his name immortality and the attention of droves of literary scholars fascinated by his life. The use of the pen name was prompted by a fear that his peers and colleagues would cruelly judge and ridicule him for the nonsense he had created.

It is often speculated that perhaps because of his vast knowledge of the logic and laws of mathematics that Carroll developed a taste and love for literary nonsense that abides by no rules. His absolute adoration for Alice Liddell, the daughter of the dean of Christ Church, seems to be the other major source of inspiration behind the classic novels.

The relationship between Carroll and Alice has provoked discussion amongst scholars. It is speculated that he may have once had intentions of courting and marrying the girl who was 20 years younger than him when she became of age. Carroll's personal diary suggests their close relationship caused his connection with the Liddell family to fracture permanently.

His personal studio and collection of photographs and paintings of female children (portrayed clothed and also nude) have also added to the controversy. To many of his friends, he was able to convince them that the work was of a non-erotic nature, but interviews with several of those who personally knew Carroll make the argument for a different story.

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All in the golden afternoon

Full leisurely we glide;

For both our oars, with little skill,

By little arms are plied,

While little hands make vain pretence

Our wanderings to guide

Ah, cruel Three! In such an hour.

Beneath such dreamy weather.

To beg a tale of breath too weak

To stir the tiniest feather!

Yet what can one poor voice avail

Against three tongues together?

Imperious Prima flashes forth

Her edict to begin it—

In gentler tone Secunda hopes

There will he nonsense in it!—

While Tertia interrupts the tale

Not more than once a minute.

Anon, to sudden silence won,

In fancy they pursue

The dream-child moving through a land

Of wonders wild and new,

In friendly chat with bird or beast—

And half believe it true.

And ever, as the story drained

The wells of fancy dry,

And faintly strove that weary one

To put the subject by,

The rest next time— It is next time!

The happy voices cry.

Thus grew the tale of Wonderland:

Thus slowly, one by one,

Its quaint events were hammered out—

And now the tale is done,

And home we steer, a merry crew,

Beneath the setting' sun.

Alice! a childish story take,

And with a gentle hand

Lay it where Childhood's dreams are twined

In Memory's mystic band,

Like pilgrim's wither'd wreath of flowers

Pluck'd in a far-off land.

CHAPTER 1:

DOWN THE RABBIT-HOLE

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,’ thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?’

So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

There was nothing so VERY remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so VERY much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, `Oh dear! Oh