DODGSON, Charles Lutwidge ("Lewis Carroll") (1832-1898). Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. John Tenniel, illustrator. Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1869.  

8vo (183 x 124 mm). Frontispiece and 41 illustrations after Tenniel. (Some toning, some minor spotting or soiling.) Contemporary calf gilt, red calf lettering-piece gilt, edges gilt; original cloth covers phase-board-backed and laid in (some wear); slipcase.

FIRST AUTHORIZED AMERICAN EDITION of Dodgson's classic, first published in an edition of 2,000 copies by the Clarendon Press in 1865. Deciding the printing of that edition was inferior, John Tenniel called for the whole print run to be recalled, and another edition was printed in 1866. The inferior sheets were sent to America so the remaining copies could be distributed with a cancelled title-page; this constituted the first American edition. The Boston edition is therefore considered the first authorized edition of Dodgson's work printed in America.


The Library of John Leonard Gillis Sold to Support the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto