I’ve been buying copies of Peter Pan for years, there are lots of different versions, but a couple of weeks ago it was another Alice in Wonderland which I added to my collection of children’s books, I must have been taken over by Joan for a wee while! I only had one from the 1980s but it has the original Tenniel illustrations. My ‘new’ version was published in 1962 and is illustrated by David Walsh and John Cooper, they’re quite dark and slightly menacing in atmosphere I think, but I like them.
If you’re interested in Alice and Wonderland and the many artists who have illustrated the books over the years you might want to have a look at Dodo & Co here.
I still love the old Tenniel and Arthur Rackham illustrations but there are lots of others who have tackled the job over the years. There’s a long list in the sidebar which you can click on to have a peek. I hadn’t realised that Mabel Lucie Attwell had illustrated Alice, and I have quite a few of her books and prints.
I hadn’t even heard of George Soper, his work is very similar to Rackham, just a bit more colourful. Anyway, it’s worth having a click down the list to see illustrations old and newish – if you’re interested in Alice. This is the cover of the book which I was lucky enough to buy, I got this image from the internet though, my copy is is in perfect condition, unusual I think.
Katrina,
I think your collection of Alice in Wonderland books reminds me of my collection of The Secret Garden books. I’d very much like to “see” the illustrations in your collection. I’ll look for them online. If you’ve omitted any, do let me know.
My favorite The Secret Garden is the one illustrated by the American Tasha Tudor. My aunt Ruth gave me this special Secret Garden when I was ten years old. I love it and still have it, but it was loved nearly to death by ten years’ worth of sixth grade students–it’s really in sorry shape. So I contacted a local rare books dealer and he sold me an excellent intact copy for $25 about five years ago. So now I have two–and I adore them both.
I also have The Annotated Secret Garden, which is full of trivia about all the published editions of the book over the years. Lots of fun.
Because the book is really a spring book, it’s time for me to commence my annual read.
Hope you are well! A foot of snow is falling tonight.
Judith
Judith,
I have a Folio Society edition of The Secret Garden, with drawings by Dodie Masterman, nice drawings but coloured illustrations would have been lovely, but I love the story itself too. My childhood copy of the book was given away (not by me) years ago. I’ll have to look up the Tasha Tudor illustrations. I haven’t put any of my book illustrations online yet, but I might get around to it sometime. It’s Peter Pan which I have most different copies of. This is The Folio Secret Garden I have http://books.ioba.org/books/302810801.html
We are supposed to be waking up to a load of snow too. It has been such a long winter, I’m really ready for spring now, but it just isn’t coming. We are fine, I hope you and Ken are too.
Whilst looking for Dodie Masterman illustrations (couldn’t find what I wanted to show you) I found this http://omnibus.chebucto.org/princess.html The Princess Who Wanted the Moon by James Thurber – I’ve not heard of it but it sounds lovely, have you heard of it?
I still have the copy of Through the Looking Glass that my dad bought me close on 40 years ago now. It’s a reprint I think of the first edition, and it has the Tenniel illustrations. I think because I read this first, I’ve always preferred it to Alice in Wonderland.
Lisa,
How lovely that you still have your original copy. Almost all of my books were given away as my mother decided I had grown out of them – as if I ever would! My youngest son loved both of the books, I just about lost my voice reading them to him, I love the craziness, even although it was probably brought on by Dodgson’s drug habit.
You know I adore Alice as you adore Peter. One of the first books that I claimed as my own was a ratty, cheap press edition of Alice in Wonderland. But it had the Tenniel illustrations, which are my favorites. I have several editions now, including a French one. Also have bits and bobs of Alice, like a jigsaw puzzle, Christmas ornaments, a wall plaque, and some others.
Judith mentions Tasha Tudor. I love her illustrations, with all the little Corgis. She, like your queen, had a small herd of them. She lived one state over, in Vermont, and was a very strange and interesting woman. She wore long colonial dresses with aprons and caps and often went barefoot.
Joan,
I didn’t know anything bout Tasha Tudor but I had a look here – her life in Vermont looked idyllic and I love her illustrations too.
You can get some lovely Alice things in the shops, I must admit that I even have some Royal Doulton figurines, packed away somewhere in the house.
I read the Tasha Tudor link. I don’t think I knew that she also had an Irish Wolfhound. Having had three myself, I think I would have remembered that.
Joan,
I would rather have an Irish Wolfhound than a corgi, even if cleaning up after the Corgi would be much easier. I don’t know about three though, surely not all at the same time!