Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll



This enchanting nonsense story had its beginnings on July 4th 1862, when told in response to Alice Liddell's request for "a story please with lots of nonsense in it" whilst on a hot afternoon's boating trip on the River Thames at Oxford with her two sisters and the Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (published as Lewis Carroll), Mathematics don at Christchurch College. Told to amuse the children, the story was peppered with amusing, hidden references to locations, characters and events that were instantly recognisable to the children of the Dean of the College - for example the White Rabbit was always worried about being late and looking at his watch, an obsessive habit shared with the Reverend Liddell, whilst the Dodo was a direct reference to the author himself, the secret garden a reference to the deanery garden, reached by a small gate in the wall and out of bounds for the children.

Added to later, and first written by hand and illustrated by Carroll, the story was entitled Alice's Adventures Under Ground and presented to Alice in manuscript form as a Christmas gift in 1864.

With still further chapters, anecdotal poems and jokes added and revised, and new characters such as the Cheshire Cat, it was later illustrated by the famous Punch magazine cartoonist Sir John Tenniel, and published by Clarendon Press, Oxford (Macmillan) as Alice in Wonderland, on July 4th 1865, exactly three years after the sunny boat trip on the river. Tenniel also brought to life the characters of Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the White Knight and the Red Queen amongst others in the sequel Through the Looking glass, published in 1871.


Never out of print Alice in Wonderland in its original form has been printed in 125 languages and 120 editions, and as copyright ended, put into comic form, illustrated by many different artists, produced in film form and video game, merchandised as figurines, on tea towels, T-shirts, and in many other forms, the latest being Tim Burton's Disney-produced, recently released motion picture, based somewhat loosely on Lewis Carroll's classic tale for children.

Loved for its innocence but enjoyed by adults for its hidden play on words and meanings, Alice in Wonderland remains one of the most popular of children's classics with its characters, the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, The Mad Hatter and his ridiculous Tea Party and, of course Alice herself amongst the most widely and instantly recognised, beaten only fleetingly by the Harry Potter phenomenon.

The New South Wales Toy and Railway Museum pays tribute to Lewis Carroll's genius with displays of illustrated books, figures and other paraphernalia associated with this magical story.

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LEURALLA NSW TOY AND RAILWAY MUSEUM
36 Olympian Parade
LEURA, NEW SOUTH WALES
(Follow the tourist signs)

Open Daily 10am - 5pm
(02) 4784 1169
www.toyandrailwaymuseum.com.au