1869 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. First American printed edition. Lee and Shepard, Boston.

The first American printing of Carroll’s seminal Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, bound in an attractive binding and illustrated wonderfully by Tenniel.

About the Work -

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics professor at Oxford University. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatures. It is seen as an example of the literary nonsense genre. The artist John Tenniel provided wood-engraved illustrations for the book. It received positive reviews upon release and is now one of the best-known works of Victorian literature; the narrative, structure, characters and imagery have had widespread influence on popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre.

About this Edition -

In 1865 2,000 copies were printed in London, but Carroll objected to their quality and they were sent to the United States to be sold by D. Appleton in New York. Macmillan then issued a better quality 1865 edition in London. The book met with great success, and the first authorized American printing was produced in 1869 by Lee and Shepard, in Boston (this edition).

Physical Attributes -


Measures approx. 19 x 13 x 2 cm. Red morocco binding. Boards with a double gilt fillet frame. Spine with four raised bands; title, author, year in gilt on black morocco in two compartments. Gatherings of eight. Illustrated.

Pages – xii, 192, [4 – blank pages from printer at end]

Collation – ½ title leaf, frontis leaf, title leaf, poem of two leaves, contents leaf, 11 gatherings of eight, 12th gathering of eight and two blank leaves at end (of the printing, not binder’s).

Condition -

See pictures. A little wear to binding edges with an occasional ring mark, etc. Labels to spine seem a little amateur, and a little darkening to spine. Fresh endpapers. Text block toned throughout, with an occasional rust spot. Light thumb at bottom of frontis. Page 16 with a light smudge. Hints of thumbing contributing to foxing along lower fore-edge and bottom margin throughout. A very nice copy, with little signs of use, the condition mostly consisting of the 19th century paper toning and foxing a little. 159/60 just barely dog-eared.