This set consists of four books representing three titles by Lewis Carroll, all in one lot. The first is Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe and published in 1886, the second is a pair of Lewis Carroll books in miniature, in fine bindings by Riviere - Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass - published in 1927 and 1928, then The Hunting of The Snark, published around 1928, and two copies of "Frankie In Wonderland", a take-off on Alice in Wonderland written "By a Tory". Details for the first book: Alice's Adventures In Wonderland By Lewis Carroll With Forty-Two Illustrations By John Tenniel, Eighty- First Thousand, Price Six Shillings, London, MacMillan And Co. And New York 1886, bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe in London and by Dutton in New York. The book is 3/4 bound, with five raised bands, six gilt-ruled compartments, elaborate gilt tooling and "1886" in gilt on the spine, red and green floral colors on the front boards, almost like Christmas decorations, a similar decorative pattern on the endpapers, followed by the half title and MacMillan's logo, then the frontis beautifully illustrated by John Tenniel, the title page and 192 pages text, and two pages of works by Lewis Carroll published by Macmillan in London at the end, and forty-two beautiful illustrations by Tenniel in all, counting the frontispiece, and all the edges are gilt. The first edition was published in 1866 with a different cover from the one published here. The first MacMillan edition showed Alice on the cover, holding a pig, and it was originally printed in Oxford at the Clarendon Press in June 1865, but Lewis Carroll heard that the book's illustrator, John Tenniel, was dissatisfied with its quality, so Carroll suppressed the whole edition of 2000 copies; the book was entirely reset by Richard Clay for the first edition, and although it was dated 1866, it was ready by November 1865, in time for the Christmas market. The unused Oxford sheets were sold to Appleton's for their New York edition, published the following summer, and the Macmillan first edition was published in 1866 in an edition of 4,000 copies. Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Dodgson (1832 - 1898), an English author and poet who was known for his word play and fantasy, and who wrote some of the best children's books of all time. This book brought about a sea change for children's literature - it appeared at a time when at a time when children's literature was produced primarily to teach moral lessons. Carroll's tale was, by contrast, wonderfully fantastical and nonsensical, and the book baffled critics at first, but it was a liberating book that opened up children and adults to the world of fantasy. This is a beautiful later copy with just a hint of rubbing at the crown and heel of the spine, and a trace at the tips, and the book measures 7 1/2 x 5 1/8 in. wide. A much less expensive book than the first edition published by Appleton, by a premier binder, and with all the amazing illustrations by John Tenniel at an affordable price. (The first Appleton edition sold for over $44,000.) The second set: a pair of Lewis Carroll books in miniature, in fine bindings by Riviere and published in 1927 and 1928. The titles are Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass - the first edition of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland was published in 1865 and the first "Miniature Edition" appeared in 1907; the first edition of Through The Looking Glass appeared in 1871 and the first Miniature edition appeared in 1906 - and they show all the character and beauty of the early editions. Both have matching five raised bands, gilt titles on maroon labels and elaborate gilt tooling on the spines, with double gilt-fillet borders, and gilt figures of The March Hare on the Alice cover and the Red Queen on the Looking Glass cover. (See page 36 of The Looking Glass to realize this is the Red Queen and not the White Queen.) Both have gilt dentelles and blue marbled endpapers, and both were published by MacMillan And Co. Limited in London. They both have beautiful illustrations by John Tenniel as well (forty-two in Alice and fifty in the Looking Glass, including the frontispieces), and all the edges are gilt. Alice is 221 pages long and Through The Looking Glass is 229 pages long, including the Easter Greeting from Lewis Carroll to "Every Child Who Loves Alice" and "Christmas Greetings" dated 1887 at the rear of both tales. Both books measure 6 1/2 x 4 1/4 in. wide, have tight bindings, and the plates and text are very clean, with just a tad of wear on the crown and spine of Alice and very light rubbing at the tips, and nice additions for someone who collects Riviere bindings. The third title is The Hunting of The Snark, An Agony in Eight Fits And Other Poems, by Lewis Carroll, New York and London, G.P. Putnam's Sons, The Knickerbocker Press, no date, but published circa 1928, 3/4 bound, with gilt lettering on the spine and in best French crushed Levant (based on a penciled note on a front blank endpaper), soft beige endpapers, with an illustrated frontispiece, the title page and two pages of Contents, a four-page Preface, and fifteen black-and-white illustrations, including the frontispiece. The book is 121 pages long, with "January 5, 1928" inscribed in pencil on a blank endpaper at the front and "Roger Matthews", probably the owner's name, inscribed on a blank endpaper at the rear, and the top edge is gilt. The illustrator was Henry Holiday, even though his name is not mentioned in the book here. The narrative follows a crew of ten trying to hunt the Snark, a creature which may turn out to be the highly dangerous Boojum - and can't tell you any more. Will let you find out for yourself. Suffice it to say, the book is a nonsense poem, and even critics and reviewers are not sure what it is about. Lewis Carroll said it was an allegory about happiness, the illustrator said it was a tragedy, and others have had different interpretations about the meaning of the poem. Eight nonsense words appear in The Hunting of the Snark: bandersnatch, beamish, frumious, galumphing, jubjub, mimsiest (which appeared previously as mimsy in "Jabberwocky"), outgrabe, and uffish, and all descriptions of the crewmembers begin with the letter B - Bellman, Boots, Bonnets, Barrister, and so on, except one - Hoods - so Carroll is clearly having fun with language in this poem. The book is only 5 5/8 x 4 in. wide, the binding is tight and the text and plates are very clean. The last two books are two copies of "Frankie in Wonderland", written "By a Tory" and published by Duttons in 1934, a parody with an anti-Roosevelt New Deal theme. The title pages also read "With apologies to Lewis Carroll, the originator and pre-historian of the New Deal", the tan covers have black lettering, the dedication page reads "To the American Eagle, that noble bird, before it was painted blue and turned into a Soviet Duck" - whew, powerful stuff - the books are 24 pages long in stiff wrapps with stapled bindings, and printed in the US by the Blackstone Canfora Press. The books measure 7 7/8 x 4 7/8 in. wide with tight bindings and clean text. One copy has faint brown spots on the title page and a horizontal mark on the back cover and is fine shape otherwise, and the other copy has light soiling on the edge of the front cover and slight creases at the bottom tips, faint browning on the title page, and is in good condition otherwise. So a fine set of Lewis Carroll books, three of the four published by premier binders and in tip-top shape, and the last two are take-offs on Lewis Carroll's writings and deserve a look. #76 #1700