Alice in Wonderland
Given the currently popularity of everything “Alice” following the recent movie release, I thought I would have a dig around online and see if I could find some original book illustrations. There’s plenty of stuff to be found on the subject but this page:
http://ufdcweb1.uflib.ufl.edu/ufdc/?a=alice&m=hbball
at the University of Florida’s digital collections, is about the best. Incidentally at the U of F George Smathers Library online, you can find hundreds of digitized childrens books. Find the index page here:
http://ufdcweb1.uflib.ufl.edu/ufdc/?a=juv&m=hhh
Anyway, back to Alice. Many different illustrators have turned their attentions to the Alice stories with varying degrees of success and I thought it would be interesting to see how different artists have represented the same scene from the book in different ways:
Arthur Rackham
Blanche McManus
John Tenniel
Margaret Tennant
Mabel Lucie Attwell
W H Walker
I particularly like the Mabel Lucie Attwell illustration. This stands out for me as I think she took a slightly different approach to the characters than the other artists, aiming perhaps. at a younger audience? You can download a zip file containing all 11 of her Alice illustrations at full size (approx 2000 x 2700 pixels) HERE.
The recent Alice movie is yet another example of how something in the public domain can be taken and used and adapted for great profit (as indeed Walt Disney did with his original Alice cartoon). On a smaller scale, I know of at least one seller who is doing very well selling sets of prints by Rackham and Tenniel from Alice on eBay – remember, these images are freely available online.
Hi Steven,
Thank you for sharing these prints I did enjoy seeing them and they take me back a few years to my childhood!! I particularly liked the one by Margaret Tennant although they are all really nice. I like to draw and paint landscapes, seascapes, flowers and animals so I can appreciate the skills of these illustrators of bygone times.
Regards,
Sue.
Valuable info. Lucky me I found your site by accident, I bookmarked it.
This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I enjoy seeing websites that understand the value of providing a prime resource for free. I truly loved reading your post. Thanks!
Hi Steve,
Thanks for sharing these and your other prints. What a lovely site you have with fascinating prints and postcards.
I find looking at old postcards an interesting pastime which i could spend hours at, the quality of the workmanship is amazing.
I so envy you having such a great hobby/job that you can share with everybody.
I look forward to my next visit to your site
All the best
Richard
Hi Steven,
Thank you for sharing these prints I did enjoy seeing them and they take me back a few years to my childhood!! I particularly liked the one by Margaret Tennant although they are all really nice. I like to draw and paint landscapes, seascapes, flowers and animals so I can appreciate the skills of these illustrators of bygone times.
Regards,
Sue.
Hi, am loving your site, is different and the art work looks great. Hope all is going well for you in John’s class.
Regards
Kerry
Hi Steven
Thanks for sharing these images of Alice in Wonderland. You’re right in saying nostalgia is big business! I am reading your book and it is such a helpful thing discovering what is exactly in public domain. I’ll be visiting this site again, regards.
Nona
If you start to compare all these pictures you see that mostly they are all the same. Looks like book explained it so well that even people imagination works quite less the same.