Reference Help
Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
1961 East Mall
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z1
More about Rare Books and Special Collections
Alice 100 at RBSC
Rare Books and Special Collections contains material related to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, and other works by and about author Lewis Carroll.
The heart of the Alice holdings is the Alice 100 Collection, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of the first publication of Alice in 1865. Over a seven year period, a well-known rare book dealer in Victoria, R.D.Hilton Smith, gathered almost 500 books for this collection. The collection includes more than 200 editions of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland usually accompanied by Through the Looking Glass and displays the work of more than 80 illustrators. The collection includes the 1866 official first edition to a calf-bound set that bears Alice Hargreaves' (Alice's married name) signature. The collection also includes parodies and imitations, musical and stage productions, film stills, translations, as well as other works by and about Alice author Lewis Carroll.
In 1965, the collection was purchased by UBC’s graduating class of 1925, led by Stan Arkley, and it was donated to the University of British Columbia in celebration of their 40th anniversary. Over the years, RBSC has continued to add to its Alice collection.
Image: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Lewis Carroll. New York: Gilbert H. McKibbin, 1899.
This video, created by Caroline Crowell, Constance Shepardson, and Allison Sullivan for the course LIBR 530: Subject-Based Information Services, provides a short introduction to the Alice 100 Collection at UBC.
Featured Materials
Through the Looking-Glass, and what Alice Found There : With fifty illustrations by John Tenniel.Call Number: Alice .book 112Publication Date: 1872An 1872 edition of Through the Looking-Glass featuring illustrations by John Tenniel. In this sequel to Alice in Wonderland, Alice steps through a looking-glass and enters a world where everything is reversed.
Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Through_the_Looking-Glass,_and_What_Alice_Found_There.djvu.
Alice's Adventures Under Ground : Being a facsimile of the original ms. book afterwards developed into "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". by Publication Date: 1886A facsimile of the manuscript for the book that was ultimately published as Alice in Wonderland. About half the length of Wonderland, Alice's Adventures Under Ground replicates the version of the story originally presented to Alice Liddell, and features original illustrations by Carroll. Image source: https://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu%3A749491#page/1/mode/2up
Alice's Adventures Under Ground and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland : With original illustrations by the author & Sir John TennielCall Number: Alice .book 8Publication Date: n.d.A facsimile of the original Alice's Adventures Under Ground manuscript paired with the 1865 edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The image (left) features an illustration by Carroll of Alice. Image source: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/carroll-illustrations-for-alice-undergound/
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland : Illustrated by Arthur Rackham. With a proem by Austin Dobson.Call Number: Alice .book 81Publication Date: 1907A 1907 edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, featuring illustrations by Arthur Rackham and a poem by Austin Dobson. The image (left) showcases Rackham's depiction of Alice. Image source: https://www.themarginalian.org/2016/02/01/arthur-rackham-alice-in-wonderland/
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland : Illustrated in colour by A. E. Jackson.Call Number: Alice .book 69Publication Date: 1926This edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (originally published circa. 1915) includes illustrations, some in colour, by A.E. Jackson. Image source: https://collectingalice.com/a-e-jackson-c-a-federer-illustrators-duet/
Alice's adventures in Wonderland / [by] Lewis Carroll. Twelve illus. with original woodcuts and an original etching by Salvador Dali.Call Number: PR4611.A5 A6 1969Publication Date: 1969Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with illustrations by Salvador Dali. The image pictured left is Dali's depiction of Alice going through the rabbit hole. Image source: https://www.themarginalian.org/2016/09/02/salvador-dali-alices-adventures-in-wonderland/
Alice's adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll's Alice's adventures in Wonderland / illustrated by Barry MoserCall Number: PR4611 .A7 1982aPublication Date: 1982This edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland features illustrations by Barry Moser. Moser is an engraver, whose work is depicted in this volume in the form of black and white prints. Image source: https://www.rmichelson.com/artists/barry-moser/the-pennyroyal-press/alices-adventures-in-wonderland/
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass : With illustrations by Milo Winter.Call Number: Alice .book 202Publication Date: 1916A combined edition of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass as illustrated by Milo Winter. Image source: https://www.pookpress.co.uk/shop/alice-in-wonderland-milo-winter-illustrations/
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass : Illustrated in line and colour by Harry RountreeCall Number: Alice .book 463Publication Date: n.d.This edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass is illustrated by Harry Roundtree.Image source: https://www.pookpress.co.uk/shop/alices-adventures-in-wonderland-illustrated-by-harry-rountree/
The Alice portfolio : 12 offset-lithographs / by Anne Bachelier by Call Number: PR4612 .B324 2005Publication Date: [2005]A collection of twelve lithographs featuring images inspired by Alice in Wonderland as depicted by Anne Bachelier. The image left showcases Bachelier's interpretation of the Cheshire Cat.Image source: https://albeditorial.com/2020/02/10/another-alice-showcasing-the-newest-addition-to-my-book-collection/
Alice 100 in the UBC Library Catalogue
Alice 100 Collection
Items in the original Alice 100 collection have special call numbers (e.g. Alice .book 1).
Colocating This Collection
In addition to the Alice 100 Collection, Rare Books and Special Collections holds other materials related to Alice. These materials can be identified using the subject headings below:
Subject Headings
Carroll, Lewis, 1832-1898. Alice's adventures in Wonderland
Carroll, Lewis, 1832-1898. Through the looking glass
Carroll, Lewis, 1832-1898--Criticism and interpretation
Alice (Fictitious character : Carroll)
Carroll, Lewis, 1832-1898. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland--Illustrations
Carroll, Lewis. 1832-1898. Through the looking-glass--Illustrations
Related Works in the UBC Catalogue
Originial Alice by Call Number: PR4611.A73 B76 1997ISBN: 0712345337Publication Date: 1997-10-01On 4th July 1862, which he later remembered as a golden afternoon, the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a young mathematics tutor at Christ Church, Oxford, entertained three little girls on a river trip with a fairy tale, which was to become one of the most famous children's stories of all time. Two years later, Alice, the heroine of the tale, received a handwritten volume, with Dodgson's own pen and ink drawings, entitled Alice's Adventures Under Ground.
Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass: A Publishing History by ISBN: 9781409419037Publication Date: 2013-12-06Emerging in several different versions during the author's lifetime, Lewis Carroll's Alice novels have a publishing history almost as magical and mysterious as the stories themselves. Zoe Jaques and Eugene Giddens offer a detailed and nuanced account of the initial publication of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and investigate how their subsequent transformations through print, illustration, film, song, music videos, and even stamp-cases and biscuit tins affected the reception of these childhood favourites.
The Making of the Alice Books by ISBN: 0773516255Publication Date: 1997-10-01Analyzing Lewis Carroll's Alice books in the context of children's literature from the 17th through the 19th century, Ronald Reichertz argues that Carroll's originality was the result of a fusion of his narrative imagination and formal and thematic features from earlier children's literature.- Alice and Lewis Carroll. Oxford town trail. : Guided walk following Alice Lidell, Charles Dodgson and Isa Bowman byCall Number: spam23097Publication Date: 1991
Related UBC Library Research Guides
- Historical Children's LiteratureAt the University of British Columbia, Rare Books and Special Collections (RBSC) collects children's literature of Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States to 1939 with an emphasis on books that were read by children. UBC's Education Library also collects historical Canadian children's literature. This subject guide lists selected print and electronic information sources for research in historical children's literature.
- Children's LiteratureThis guide will help you locate books, web resources, databases, theses, journals, and other sources concerning children's literature.
Beyond our Collection
- Lewis Carroll Society of North AmericaThe Lewis Carroll Society of North America (LCSNA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering study of the life and works of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known to the world by his pen name, Lewis Carroll. The society works to increase accessibility of research material, and to maintain public awareness of Carroll’s contributions to society and culture around the world.
- British Library CollectionThis website contains the works in the British Library featuring Lewis Carroll that are available online.