Walter Hawes, of which I cannot find anything online, had his edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, published at 1908, making him one of the earliest Alice illustrators. I find his style of illustrations subtle, with a touch of whimsy. While Hawes’s method of illustrations resonates Tenniel’s, his has a lighter feel to them.
I’m no expert, so this is my personal take of these. I’d love to know anything about Walter Hawes, if anyone knows anything, please leave a comment below.
I do have the 1908, 1st edition, but the cover is quite worn out as you can see. Since it’s a rather rare book, and one that I don’t come across often, I bought it despite its condition. I know usually people want to go by quality rather than quantity, but let me make the case for the latter. While I wouldn’t buy a book in poor condition, I would go for one that’s in ok/good condition. If I would only spend my money on good+ condition books, my collection would shrink down to a third of its size. Another argument, is that these books, like the one here, are over 100 years old, and have been read over and over again. It’s difficult to find these old, rare books in any condition, there’s always the option of buying a better copy, and selling the other one. Well, enough about that, Let’s dive into the Walter Hawes Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Front hard cover, with a gilded, faded, image of Alice and the White Rabbit.
The trial, this illustration is positioned by the title page
Title page, published by The Walter Scott publishing co., ltd
All in a golden afternoon poem, with a lovely illustration of Dodgson and the Liddell sisters, surrounded by Wonderland characters
Alice watching the White rabbit go by
Alice falling down the rabbits hole
Entering Wonderland
Drink me
Alice crying
How doth the little crocodile
Alice using the rabbit’s fan to change size
Alice and the animals swimming in her pool of tears
The caucus race
Old Magpie
The White rabbit falling into a cucumber frame
Alice filling out the White Rabbit’s house
Alice fleeing the White rabbit’s house, after causing much distress to everyone
Alice and the Caterpillar
Father William
Alice and the pigeon
Alice and the footman
Alice, Duchess, baby, cook, and the Cheshire cat
Alice and the pig baby
The house of the March Hare
A Mad Tea Party
March Hare and Dormouse
The Hatter tormenting the poor Dormouse
Three sisters down the treacle well
Alice going through the door in the tree
The Queen with the frightened gardners
Alice hiding the gardners in a flower pot
The White Rabbit walking by Alice. This is the gilded image that’s on the hard cover
The King offers the Cheshire cat to kiss his hand
the Queen, Alice and the Duchess
The Gryphon takes Alice to the Mock Turtle
The Lobster Quadrille
The Whiting
Gryphon, Alice and the Mock Turtle
Turtle reciting his poem
The March Hare and Dormouse, at the Trial
The Hatter gives his testimony
The cook’s evidence
Chaos at the trial
Alice wakes up from her dream
Hi, I have a similar copy of this version. But, like yourself, cannot find anything online about its value. Any idea how I could go about getting a valuation for it?
PS Love your blog ❣️❤️❣️
Thank you for the kind words, it means a lot!
As for the value fo this one, on one hand, I hardly ever see this one come online, so I do believe its rather rare.
Although its scarce, it’s also not widely known and seeked after (Like Rackham for example).
I can tell you that I paid about $50 USD for my copy on ebay a couple of years ago, and would assume that a good+ quality edition should go for
$100-$150.
Rather the helpful information
Thank you