1910 Rare Book - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland illustrated by K. M. Roberts
An uncommon circa 1910 illustrated edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, featuring eight delightful illustrations by K. M. Roberts, including a colour frontispiece, and preserved in its striking original pale blue Art Nouveau pictorial cloth binding.
Author: Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson).
Title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Publisher: London: S. W. Partridge & Co. Ltd., circa 1910.
Edition: Uncommon early twentieth-century illustrated edition, undated (circa 1910).
Language: English.
Pages: 184 pages.
Size: 7.5 x 5 inches.
Binding: Very good original pale blue cloth binding, with an elaborate black Art Nouveau floral design on the front cover and spine, and gilt lettering against a dark panel on the spine. Light age-related wear to the extremities and mild toning to the spine. The decorative front cover remains particularly attractive, with its distinctive flowing floral ornamentation. Protected in a removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good, with occasional light foxing and the usual age-related toning to the leaves. An attractive handwritten presentation inscription dated January 22, 1925, appears on the front free endpaper, recording a ninth-birthday gift. The pages are generally clean and well preserved.
Illustrations: Complete with eight illustrations by K. M. Roberts, comprising a charming colour frontispiece and seven black-and-white plates. The frontispiece depicts Alice before the King and Queen of Hearts, while the other illustrations capture memorable episodes from Wonderland, including the White Rabbit, the Dodo's prize-giving, the Mad Tea-Party, and the Mock Turtle and Gryphon.
Estimate: USD $275–300.
The book: First published in 1865, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland remains one of the most celebrated works of children's literature. Lewis Carroll's imaginative tale follows Alice down a rabbit hole into an extraordinary world populated by the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts, and a remarkable assortment of eccentric creatures. Its playful language, ingenious nonsense, and memorable characters have inspired generations of readers and illustrators.
This uncommon edition, published by S. W. Partridge & Co. around 1910, offers a particularly appealing interpretation of Carroll's classic. Its most immediately striking feature is the original pale blue cloth binding, decorated with bold, flowing Art Nouveau motifs that give the book a distinctive early twentieth-century character. The eight illustrations by K. M. Roberts offer a fresh visual interpretation of Wonderland, with expressive figures, lively compositions, and finely detailed pen-and-ink work. The colour frontispiece, showing Alice at the royal court, provides a particularly charming introduction to the volume. Preserved in very good condition and retaining a dated presentation inscription from 1925, this is an attractive copy for collectors of Alice, illustrated children's books, and decorative publishers' bindings.
The author: Lewis Carroll (1832–1898), the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, was an English writer, mathematician, photographer, and lecturer at Christ Church, Oxford. His enduring literary reputation rests chiefly on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass (1871), two imaginative masterpieces that transformed the possibilities of children's fiction.
Carroll's extraordinary gift for wordplay, logical paradox, and fantastical storytelling has made Alice one of the most widely illustrated characters in literary history. From John Tenniel's original drawings to the interpretations of later artists, each generation has rediscovered Wonderland through a distinctive visual imagination.
The illustrator: K. M. Roberts was an illustrator whose initials appear on the plates in this edition. Roberts's interpretation of Wonderland combines lively characterisation with detailed pen-and-ink drawing, presenting Alice and the inhabitants of Carroll's imaginary world in a style characteristic of early twentieth-century children's book illustration.
The illustrations are especially appealing for their expressive treatment of familiar episodes, from Alice pursuing the White Rabbit to the curious gathering at the Mad Tea-Party. Together with the colourful frontispiece and striking Art Nouveau binding, they give this edition a distinctive identity among the many illustrated versions of Carroll's classic.