LEWIS CARROLL (CHARLES L. DODGSON) a selection from The Library of an English Bibliophile Peter Harrington london VAT no. gb 701 5578 50 Peter Harrington Limited. Registered office: WSM Services Limited, Connect House, 133–137 Alexandra Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 7JY. Registered in England and Wales No: 3609982 Design: Nigel Bents; Photography Ruth Segarra. Peter Harrington london catalogue 119 LEWIS CARROLL (CHARLES L. DODGSON) A collection of mainly signed and inscribed first and early editions From The Library of an English Bibliophile All items from this catalogue are on display at Dover Street mayfair chelsea Peter Harrington Peter Harrington 43 Dover Street 100 Fulham Road London w1s 4ff London sw3 6hs uk 020 3763 3220 uk 020 7591 0220 eu 00 44 20 3763 3220 eu 00 44 20 7591 0220 usa 011 44 20 3763 3220 usa 011 44 20 7591 0220 Dover St opening hours: 10am–7pm Monday–Friday; 10am–6pm Saturday www.peterharrington.co.uk FOREWORD In 1862 Charles Dodgson, a shy Oxford mathematician with a stammer, created a story about a little girl tumbling down a rabbit hole. With Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), children’s literature escaped from the grimly moral tone of evangelical tracts to delight in magical worlds populated by talking rabbits and stubborn lobsters. A key work in modern fantasy literature, it is the prototype of the portal quest, in which readers are invited to follow the protagonist into an alternate world of the fantastic. The Alice books are one of the best-known works in world literature. They have been translated into over one hundred languages, and are referenced and cited in academic works and popular culture to this day. Alice has been presented in numerous film and television versions over the years and inspired many artists and illustrators. There are no dependably accurate world figures for sales of the two Alice books, but these two books have never been out of print and they must be counted among the best sellers of all time. When the original manuscript presented by Dodgson to Alice Liddell was auctioned at Sotheby’s London, 3 August 1928, it was bought by the American book dealer Rosenbach in a blaze of publicity and later sold to the collector Eldridge R. Johnson. The manuscript was bought in 1948 for $50,000 and presented to the British Museum by American donors appreciative of Britain’s war efforts. The manuscript currently resides in the British Library, where it is considered one of the national library’s greatest treasures. The Alice books were appearing in the collecting market even before the author’s death, but it was in May 1893 in Oxford that the first and greatest auction of Carrolliana was held, the sale that dispersed the remnants of the author’s estate, a sale which could be said to mark the beginning of serious Lewis Carroll collecting. Lewis Carroll was collected by some of the leading book collectors of the 20th century, appearing in landmark sales over the century such as the libraries of Jerome Kern (1929), Eldridge Johnson (1948) and Justin Schiller (1998). 2 PART I: ALICE AND HER SEQUELS Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) The publication of the first Alice book set a pattern for many of Dodgson’s succeeding publications. The book was originally printed in Oxford at the Clarendon Press in June 1865. On 19 July 1865, Dodgson heard that the book’s illustrator John Tenniel was dissatisfied with the quality of the printing, so decided to suppress the whole edition of 2,000 copies. He recalled the few pre-publication copies he had sent out to his friends and donated them to hospitals, where most perished. Only 23 of those original “1865 Alices” are now extant, mostly in institutional holdings, thus creating one of the most famous black tulips of book collecting. The book was entirely reset by Richard Clay for the authorized Macmillan edition which, although dated 1866, was in fact ready by November 1865, in time for the Christmas market. The unused Oxford sheets were sold to Appleton’s for use in their New York edition, published the following summer. The Macmillan edition was published in an edition of 4,000 copies. All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk 4 All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk Peter Harrington 119 The first published edition 1 CARROLL, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. With forty-two illustrations by John Tenniel. London: (Richard Clay for) Macmillan and Co., 1866 Octavo. Original red cloth, titles to spine gilt, triple gilt rules second (first published) edition, with the in- to covers, triple ruled gilt, gilt roundels with “Alice” motifs to verted “S” in the last line of the Contents page. covers, dark green coated endpapers, all edges gilt. Housed in a custom red linen chemise and quarter morocco slipcase. Printing and the Mind of Man 354 (note); Williams–Madan–Green– Crutch 46. Frontispiece and 41 illustrations by John Tenniel. Bookplate of Mary Hemenway Field (1903–1957) and bookseller’s ticket £57,500 [108856] to front pastedown, binder’s ticket to rear pastedown. Gift inscription dated 11 August 1866 to verso of front free endpa- per. Spine rolled, corner of p. i creased, front inner hinge with short split near head and just starting at foot, a few faint marks to contents. An exceptional copy in original condition. 5 All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk The Appleton Alice, retaining the original printed sheets 2 CARROLL, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. New York: (Clarendon Press, Oxford, for) D. Appleton and Co., 1866 Octavo. Original red cloth, spine lettered in gilt, triple gilt but with new tipped-in title pages also printed at the rules to covers, gilt roundels with “Alice” motifs to covers, Clarendon Press, Oxford. Dodgson authorized the sale dark green endpapers, all edges gilt. Housed in a custom to America on 10 April 1866 and was invoiced for the red morocco pull-off case by Sangorski & Sutcliffe for E. P. printing of the American title pages on 26 May. Dutton, intricately decorated gilt, inlaid with green morocco roundels featuring Alice characters, onlaid with gemstones This copy is handsomely presented in a magnificently for eyes. Frontispiece with tissue-guard and 41 illustrations by decorated and bejewelled morocco case made in the John Tenniel. Spine expertly rebacked and laid down, an oc- 1920s by the London binders Sangorski & Sutcliffe for casional mark or spot to contents. An excellent, bright copy. E. P. Dutton of New York. For a similar case on a book first edition, second issue: the first practi- from Jerome Kern’s collection, see item 35 below. cably obtainable issue of the original sheets, Lewis Carroll at Texas: the Warren Weaver Collection (1985) no. 2; Wil- comprising sheets of the suppressed 1865 printing of liams–Madan–Green–Crutch 44. Alice with the Appleton cancel title page. The issue con- sisted of 1,000 copies, using the first printing sheets £27,500 [108858] 6 All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk Peter Harrington 119 The first of Dodgson’s seasonal greetings 3 CARROLL, Lewis. To all Child-Readers of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. [Oxford:] Christmas 1871 Vicesimo-quarto (24mo), single bifolium. Unbound, printed Smedley, approving of the little Christmas address I on wove paper. In this copy, the final “d” of “Wonderland” on had sent her in MS.” the title page has failed to print. Fine condition. Williams–Madan–Green–Crutch 82. first edition of a letter of good wishes for Christ- mas and the New Year. As there is no specific mention £125 [108921] of Through the Looking-Glass, Williams–Madan–Green– Crutch speculate that this little four-page leaflet could have been inserted in copies of the 1872 edition of Al- ice and also in copies of Through the Looking-Glass, pub- lished the same month as this. On 22 November 1871, Dodgson noted in his diary: “Heard from Menella 7 All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk Inscribed to Alice’s sister, in the rare white binding specially for presentation 4 CARROLL, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Fifty-fifth thousand. London: Macmillan and Co., 1877 Octavo. Presentation binding of gilt-stamped white boards calf label. Frontispiece with tissue-guard and 41 illustrations in imitation of white morocco, black endpapers, gilt edges. by John Tenniel. Bookplate of Herbert Brenon to front past- Housed in a custom buff linen chemise and slipcase with red edown. Spine marked and slightly indented around the gilt 8 All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk Peter Harrington 119 I think, be bold enough to give such invitations – but, but, I am close on 60 years old now – and all romantic sentiment has quite died out of my life; so I have quite hardened as to having lady-visitors of any age!” The book demonstrates that Rhoda, now approaching 32 years of age and probably in company with her younger sister Violet, made the suggested visit to Dodgson in his rooms on Saturday, 28 November 1891, receiving this copy as a present on the occasion. A typescript of the letter accompanies the book; the original auto- graph letter was lost in the intervening years between the book’s sale at Sotheby’s in 1930, and its reappear- ance with the bookseller David Magee in 1948. letters “in”, boards lightly finger-marked, some light wear to This style of white binding for presentation was extremities, a little light foxing to outer leaves, split to foot of Dodgson’s preferred choice for his closest friends.