Books

Item Description

beautifully illustrated and signed by Charles Santore (grandpa of Bluebird Simone)

Alice's Adventures Under Ground is a children's fantasy novel of four chapters. It was written between 1862 and 1864 by the British author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who wrote under the pseudonymof Lewis Carroll. It is the earliest surviving written version of the novel which Carroll later revised and expanded and had published as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865.

Carroll first told the story that would later become Alice's Adventures Under Ground, and eventually Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, to ten-year old Alice Liddell and her sisters Lorina and Edith on a boat trip from Oxford on July 4, 1862. Alice Liddell urged Carroll to turn the story into a book. He began writing it the following day. That manuscript no longer exists. On another boat trip in August 1862, Carroll told the story again. He began writing the manuscript of Alice's Adventures Under Ground in November of that year.

On November 26, 1864, Lewis Carroll presented Alice Liddell with a handwritten copy of Alice's Adventures Under Ground. Carroll illustrated and bound the book himself. The book's dedication states that it is, "A Christmas Gift to a Dear Child in Memory of a Summer Day". Before giving the book to Alice Liddell, Carroll had shown it to other children, who provided positive feedback. The manuscript which Carroll gave to Alice Liddell is now in the British Library.

Before giving Alice Liddell her copy of Alice's Adventures Under Ground, Carroll had already begun revising and expanding the story for publication and had asked artist John Tenniel to provide illustrations for the published version.

The title character and protagonist of Alice's Adventures Under Ground is a young girl who, on a hot summer afternoon, follows a talking white rabbit down its hole. She finds herself in a strange subterranean world where she encounters more talking animals, imaginary creatures and a deck of living playing cards. She also grows and shrinks several times, usually as a result of eating or drinking something unusual.

There are several minor differences between Alice's Adventures Under Ground and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The character of the Cheshire Cat is notably absent from this early version of the story, as is the chapter about the Mad Tea Party.

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