This is the first post wholly dedicated to ‘Through the Looking Glass’, the sequel to ‘Alice in Wonderland’, so I’ll say a few words about that masterpiece. It’s my personal favorite of the two, if Wonderland is rather cheerful and light, The Looking Glass takes a bit of a turn to a darker side. Alice in Wonderland was the world’s best gift anyone ever gave anyone, but I’ll elaborate on that in a later post, when I get to ‘Alice’s Adventures Underground’, the handwritten, illustrated notebook given by Dodgson to Alice Liddell in 1862. Till the publication of Looking Through the Glass in 1872, things have drastically changed between Dodgson and the Liddell’s, and I believe its evident in Through the Looking Glass I’ll get to that one of these days, but for now, I’ll leave it be.
Moving on to Peter Newell’s Through the looking glass. It was published in 1902, one year after his Alice in Wonderland publication. It’s just as lovely, and full of whimsy. Let’s go over the illustrations:
The front cover, with the beautiful gilded embossment of Alice, holding a cake with a knife in it. Reference to the Lion and the Unicorn scene, where, with the Looking Glass land logic, first you hand out the cake, then with the empty plate, you proceed to cutting it. My copy of this book is good at best, the front, as you can see, has seen better days, parts of the gild have worn off, and it looks like it has some stains. I wish I could off the head of whoever did this, but a couple of things about this – top grade condition of the 1st edition Newell books can be pricey, but there’s also something to be said about a book that clearly has been read, and loved. 
Title page. Published by Harper & Brothers. 
Published in October 1902, 120 years ago, 1st edition
Through the Looking Glass is written as a chess game you can play
Alice passing through the looking glass
The Chessmen walking about
Alice holding the King up in the air
The poor king
The Jubjub bird, and the Bandersnatch!
The Jabberwock
Alice and the Tiger-lily
Alice and the Red Queen
Alice and the Queen looking at the checkered landscape
“Faster! Faster!”
Alice and the Elephant Bee
Alice on the train
Alice and the Gnat
Alice and the Fawn
Tweedle Dee and Tweedeldum
The Walrus and the Carpenter
“The eldest oyster winked”
“I deeply sympathize”, said the Walrus
“it’s only the Red King snoring”
Tweedledee and Tweedeldum dance
Alice in the Old Sheep’s store. I think this is my favorite chapter,
its very surreal.
Alice and the Sheep, in the boat
Alice and Humpty Dumpty
Peter Newell’s angry Humpy Dumpty
Soldiers, so uncertain on their feet
Alice and the faint king
Looking Glass Mad Tea Party Trio cameo
Newell’s Alice with the Lion and the Unicorn
The Knights fighting
Alice helping out the ever falling White Knight, the character attributed to Dodgson.
Alice helping the W. Knight again
Alice and the White Knight telling his dramatic story
The White Knight’s story continues. Peter Newell gives the Alice and the White Knight scene many illustrations, doesn’t he?
Queen Alice. Alice finding a crown on her head
Queen Alice with the White and Red Queens
Alice and the Queens falling asleep
The polite leg of mutton, introducing itself to Alice
Newell’s Looking Glass final scene, it all comes crashing down
Alice and the Kitty, final illustration of Peter Newell of Alice Through the Looking Glass
Peter Newell – Through the Looking Glass
This may be interesting to you; from More Annotated Alice, by Martin Gardner.
“Richard Boothe notices in a letter that Peter Newell, in his illustration for this scene, violated the poem by putting both birds and clouds in the sky. Newell’s Walrus wears a Victorian bathing suit. The key hanging from his neck is for a bathing machine that Newell placed in the background.”
Wonderful, Thank you Jack!