Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
How it was written
Wonderland began as a story made up on a boat trip for three sisters.
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1862A summer boat trip
On 4 July 1862 Charles Dodgson rowed up the river from Folly Bridge, Oxford, with his friend Robinson Duckworth and the three Liddell sisters.
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1862Write it down!
Ten-year-old Alice Liddell asked him to write the story down. Unlike his other stories, she wanted to keep this one.
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1864A Christmas gift
He gave Alice a handwritten book with his own drawings: Alice's Adventures Under Ground.
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1865Twice as long
The published book was about twice as long. New scenes included the Mad Tea-Party.
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1865Tenniel's pictures
John Tenniel made 42 wood engravings. He disliked the first printing, so the 2,000 copies were held back and printed again.
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1886The original, in print
Carroll later published a facsimile of the handwritten Under Ground book.
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Image credits
- Tenniel illustration 25, from an 1869 edition, John Tenniel, Public domain
- Tenniel illustration 23, from an 1869 edition, John Tenniel, Public domain
- Tenniel illustration 02, from an 1869 edition, John Tenniel, Public domain
- Tenniel illustration 15, from an 1869 edition, John Tenniel, Public domain
- Alice Liddell 2, Lewis Carroll, Public domain
- Girl asleep under a willow by the river near Oxford at dusk, Illustration by VoxRead, AI-generated for VoxRead