Lewis Carroll’s Original, Hand-Written, Alice is Online

Lewis Carroll’s original, hand-crafted version of Alice in Wonderland – titled “Alice’s Adventures Under Ground” – is available online as a set of images (91 web pages, each with two images for the left and right page).

The effort is remarkable – all hand-written in very neat but casual printing, on unlined pages. The illustrations are also remarkable – apparently only 16 of them, but Carroll was also a talented artist. Finally, the occasional “illumination” – embellishments in the margin – add character a whimsy to the overall effect.

As described on the first of the pages online:

Dodgson was fond of children and became friends with Lorina, Alice and Edith Liddell, the young daughters of the Dean of his college, Christ Church. One summer’s day in 1862 he entertained them on a boat trip with a story of Alice’s adventures in a magical world entered through a rabbit-hole. The ten-year-old Alice was so entranced that she begged him to write it down for her. It took him some time to write out the tale – in a tiny, neat hand – and complete the 37 illustrations. Alice finally received the 90-page book, dedicated to ‘a dear child, in memory of a summer day’, in November 1864

Virtual books: images only – Lewis Carrolls Alices Adventures Under Ground: Introduction.