"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass", by Lewis Carroll, Complete set with illustrations by John Tenniel, colored by Fritz Kredel; stated special edition by Random House, New York, 1946.

Illustrated hard covers, original cloth spines stamped in gold [a little spine fade]; the original slipcase is in very good condition; small private labels on the front endpapers; 5.1/4" x 8.1/2"; 150 + 166 pages, + colophons in both volumes, complete with all illustrations of Tenniel in color by Kredel; very good binding and condition.

"In the six years since he wrote "Alice in Wonderland", Dodgson [Lewis Caroll] had been teaching Alice the mysteries of the game of chess. He had made up stories to illustrate the moves of the pieces and the rules of the game. When he came to consider a sequel, he had plenty of ideas, and had only to make up his mind as to the best way to turn his many stories into one. In the beginning of the book, he identified the main characters with the chessmen and provided a diagram with the pieces set out for the problem which was to be solved. The chess problem is quite correctly worked out in the course of the story.

This sequel, "Through the Looking Glass and what Alice found there", was published in December 1871 (but was dated 1872). The 'wrong-way-round idea' dominates the book, because this kind of game was a favorite of Dodgson's. He liked to write letters in mirror-writing, drew pictures which changed into different ones when held upside down, and he also liked to play his musical boxes backwards."

Sir John Tenniel's (1820-1914) illustrations for "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass" are considered to be his finest and most enduring achievement. They must also rank among the world's best-known children's images.

Fritz Kredel (1900-1973) began his graphic education as an art student. In the early 1920s he studied with Rudolf Koch, a type designer for Gebr. Klingspor in Offenbach, becoming Koch's assistant both at the foundry and at the Offenbach technical school, where he taught graphic design and developed his skills as a woodcut artist. In 1934, Kredel moved to Frankfurt and set up a studio in the Stadel Museum, surrounded by a circle of artists interested in typography, illustration and graphic design. In 1936, the same year he won a gold medal for his work at the Paris salon, Fritz Kredel fled Germany, moving with his family first to rural Austria, and then, with the help of Melbert Cary, to New York in 1938. In America, Kredel illustrated a number of volumes for George Macy's Limited Editions Club and established himself as an illustrator, teacher and active typophile.

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