1935 Rare Book - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Illustrated by Gwynedd Hudson
Author: Lewis Carroll. Illustrated by Gwynedd M. Hudson.
Title: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Publisher: New York: The Dial Press, Inc., 1935.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 9.5 x 7 inches.
Pages: 181 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good original publisher’s pale green cloth binding, gilt title to upper cover and spine, with mounted full-color pictorial onlay depicting the Mad Tea Party. Spine lettered in gilt (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight, internally clean and fresh throughout with only the faintest toning to page edges - as shown).
Illustrations: Illustrated by Gwynedd M. Hudson with 12 exquisite full-color plates, including the frontispiece “Alice and Dinah,” and numerous decorative silhouettes and typographic ornaments throughout. The plates, finely printed on coated paper, include The White Rabbit, Advice from a Caterpillar, The March Hare and the Hatter, and The Pack of Cards Flying. All illustrations are present and bright.
Estimate: (USD 250 – 350).
The book: A beautifully preserved 1935 Dial Press edition of Lewis Carroll’s timeless Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, featuring the enchanting illustrations of Gwynedd M. Hudson, first published in 1922 in the UK. This American edition captures Hudson’s whimsical and slightly Art Deco interpretation of Carroll’s dream world—distinct from Tenniel’s Victorian precision, offering instead a soft, theatrical, and emotionally expressive vision of Wonderland.
Hudson’s edition was among the last great Alice illustrated works before World War II, cherished for its rich color plates and elegant typography. The Dial Press binding design, with its gilt lettering and autumn-toned illustration onlay, evokes the warmth and magic of Hudson’s palette and represents one of the most decorative 1930s printings of Carroll’s masterpiece.
The author: Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, 1832–1898) was an English mathematician, logician, photographer, and author. His Alice books—Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871)—revolutionized children’s literature through their playful logic, linguistic invention, and dreamlike absurdity. Carroll’s work continues to influence art, literature, and popular culture worldwide, celebrating the boundless imagination of childhood.
The illustrator: Gwynedd M. Hudson (1909–1935) was a British artist and designer known for her brilliant color illustrations and calligraphic lettering. Her edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland remains her most celebrated work, blending Edwardian elegance with modern decorative sensibility. Hudson’s figures are expressive and luminous, her compositions balanced between fantasy and refinement—a true testament to her short but remarkable artistic career.