Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There

When Through the Looking Glass was published in 1871, readers were as delighted with that book as they were with Lewis Carroll's first masterpiece, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In the topsy-turvy world that lies beyond the looking-glass, Alice meets such fantastical characters as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Humpty Dumpty, and the Jabberwock.

For over 120 years John Tenniel's superb illustrations have been the perfect complement to Lewis Carroll's timeless story. This is the first edition of Looking-glass to reproduce Tenniel's exquisite drawings from engravings taken directly from the original woodblocks. Here, Tenniel's fine line work is far crisper, delicate shadings are reproduced with more subtlety, and details never seen before are now visible.

The pictures for the first edition of Looking-glass were created by transferring the artist's drawings to woodblocks. These original blocks served as masters from which metal plates were made for printing. Unfortunately, these plates deteriorated from the repeated pressure applied during the printing process, and over time, many of the fine lines in Tenniel's pictures simply vanished.

The original woodblocks disappeared and were believed lost; then, in 1985 they were discovered in a London bank vault. Now, for the first time, engravings from these woodblocks have been used to produce a deluxe gift edition. At last, readers can see the Looking-glass that Carroll and Tenniel had originally intended.

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240 pages

Average rating: 7.57

14 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Em-Mo
Oct 02, 2024
10/10 stars
This is my absolute favorite book. I don't think I have found a story yet that replaces this one. I have re-read this one over and over from age 10-27. The illustrations and poetry throughout are some of my favorite works of art. I highly recommend getting a hard cover as it will be a book that stays with you for a lifetime.
Shahna
Jul 18, 2024
6/10 stars
It’s alright.
E Clou
May 10, 2023
6/10 stars
The first time I read this book I hadn't encountered all the many mentions of it in our culture yet. Or if I had, I hadn't noticed yet. I've encountered many uses of the quote of the Queen telling Alice that in the Mirror Land you must keep running just to stay in the same place. I think once I encountered it as a physics analogy and another time as a more pedestrian analogy.

This is also the origin of the famous poem Jabberwocky. That's probably a good enough reason to read the book.

The first time I read this book, I read it like any other children's book. On a second reading, it appears to be one puzzle-analogy after another with a minimal uniting plot, ie. Alice is a pawn in a real-life chess game trying to become a queen.

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