Sold: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland 1st American Edition 1869 Lee and Shepard Book

$650.00

Out of stock

Description

Here is the first American edition of Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, published by Lee and Shepard (Boston) in 1869! With 192 numbered pages, gilt edges, and forty-two B&W illustrations by John Tenniel, the first Alice illustrator. Not your Disney Alice, this! See the numerous photos. Alice had a complicated birth with Carroll (Dodgeson) and Tenniel unhappy with the quality of the first pressing in Oxford in 1865, so those sheets were retracted. The 1866 MacMillan edition is thus generally considered the first British edition and this, the 1869 Lee and Shepard edition the first American edition.

The book has been rebacked so the spine is somewhat different from the original, but the original green cloth with gilt cover ornaments, including the Cheshire cat on the back, has been preserved. Probably new fixed endpapers though they are age toned indicating the restoration was done quite a while ago. The subsequent endpapers have heavy darkening around the edges, and a bit of corner staining extending just to the contents page. There is a pencil inscription before the half-title “Maggie MacTavish Christmas 1869”, then “with Cousin Minnie” has been added. Text is complete with some soiling and a few corners with an old repair/browning. Corner bumping, fold marks. No copies found online for less than $1450, offered at a discount due to the restoration. A special holiday gift for someone–including yourself!