1876 Rare Victorian Book - The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll
Author: Lewis Carroll. (Henry Holiday, illustrator).
Title: The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony, in Eight Fits.
Publisher: London: Macmillan and Co., 1876. First Edition, Eighteenth Thousand (an early issue of the first edition).
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7" X 5".
Pages: xi, 83 pages + publisher's add.
Binding: Good and attractive original Victorian gilt-decorated full red cloth binding, all edges gilt (binding firm, overall worn and scuffed with rubbing to the extremities, spine ends softened, and some marking to the cloth as shown). Protected in a removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight, and generally clean, occasional light foxing or staining as shown). Contemporary ownership inscription dated Christmas 1879 to the half-title page and an attractive armorial bookplate to the front pastedown. Noticeable offsetting to the first page of "Fit the First" as shown. No loose or missing pages.
Illustrations: Complete with the nine wonderful illustrations by Henry Holiday, including the frontispiece and the famous folding "Ocean Chart" printed on both sides.
Estimate: (USD 350 - USD 650).
The book: Rare and attractive First Edition, Eighteenth Thousand, published in the year of first appearance, 1876. Retaining its original publisher's red cloth binding with gilt decorations and all gilt edges, this charming Victorian classic remains one of the most sought-after works by Lewis Carroll outside of the Alice books.
Issued in the publisher's distinctive red cloth with the gilt Bellman on the front board and the Beaver on the rear board, The Hunting of the Snark follows an eccentric crew on a fantastical voyage in search of the elusive Snark. Combining absurd humour, ingenious wordplay, logical puzzles, and dreamlike imagery, Carroll created one of the masterpieces of literary nonsense. While often read as a whimsical fantasy, the poem has inspired generations of readers and scholars who continue to debate its hidden meanings and symbolism.
The volume is illustrated throughout by Henry Holiday, whose memorable artwork has become inseparable from the text itself. It also retains the celebrated blank "Ocean Chart," one of the most famous curiosities in Victorian publishing. Though intentionally devoid of geographical detail, the chart plays a central role in the narrative and remains one of the most recognizable visual elements associated with the work.
A highly desirable Victorian Lewis Carroll title, complete with all illustrations and chart, and preserved in its original gilt-decorated cloth binding.
The author: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English writer, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon, and photographer. His most famous works, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, transformed children's literature through their extraordinary imagination and inventive language. The Hunting of the Snark remains one of his most celebrated achievements and a cornerstone of literary nonsense.
The illustrator: Henry Holiday (1839–1927) was an English painter, stained-glass designer, and illustrator associated with the Pre-Raphaelite circle. His illustrations for The Hunting of the Snark are regarded among the finest examples of Victorian book illustration and helped establish the enduring visual identity of Carroll's fantastical poem.