Alice in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll
Seashell Press (enhanced e-book)
Alice in Wonderland is made for e-books (there's already a splendid iPad version). This edition includes an introduction about Lewis Carroll by his recent biographer, Jenny Woolf, and an essay on the story's most famous illustrator, John Tenniel. The illustrations are made to be seen in colour, and won't work on the Kindle - but they look marvellous on my computer. Alice is too famous to warrant summary, but: girl meets rabbit; girl falls down hole and learns the perils of drinking, card games, puns, walruses and kings; girl awakes to find it was all a dream. What is wonderful here is the extra bits and pieces: Woolf's essay promotes the book intelligently; Edward Wakeling's essay on Tenniel is informative. Best of all are the illustrations: Tenniel's beautifully coloured images, plus many of the versions by his chief rival, Arthur Rackham. There are also photographs by Carroll himself, including the infamous portraits of Alice Liddell. There is even the cover of the 1923 Russian edition, written by Vladimir Nabokov. Full of fantastic stuff and nonsense.
Extras: illustrations, photographs, biographies of Carroll and Tenniel