I’m making this blog to put my collection out to the world, and keep track of it for myself. I focus on the different illustrators, and go by the books in my collection, I post by Alice in Wonderland illustrators, and then have a dedicated area of the Wonderland illustrations by scene, where the magic of this collection pops out, in my opinion, as you can view the different illustrative takes on same scenes, as done by the different illustrators of Alice.
This is a work in progress, and will take a lifetime to conclude, may it go on forever.
My name is Yonatan Hyman. I’ve been collecting Alice in Wonderland
books for the last 25 years. My collection consists of different publications of Alice in Wonderland, and Through the looking Glass editions, with a focus on the different illustrators. I do collect other Lewis Carroll’s publications, Hunting of the Snark, and the rest of his literary works. I have over 300 Alices and Carrolls, and Alice-related books, but still so many are missing from my collection (I’ll dedicate a post to the holes in my collection).
What I find unique about this particular collection, is the endless amount of Alice books out there. It’s endless not only because there are over 150 years of Alice editions published, resulting in thousands of odd collectable Alice’s, but because every year there are new ones.
From a collectors perspective, I’m amazed at the sheer amount of publications. What is it about this book, that still captivates this much inspiration and interest? If you put together all the Peter Pan’s, Pinocchio’s, Grimm Brothers, Wizard of Oz, Gulliver’s, Narnia’s, Peter Rabbits, all possible of editions of all of those throughout time, will not amount to half of all the Alice in Wonderland out there.
Alice to illustrators, is like a jazz standard. If you a serious, critically acclaimed illustrator, you need to have your own version of Alice.
I view myself as a middleweight Alice collector. That is because I’m aware of other Alice book collectors with a considerably larger collection. As any collector knows, there are multiple dimensions to it, and it’s also about the quality of the collection, and the gold nuggets within it. From inscribed editions by Carroll, to the first Tenniel editions, to rare ones. This goes far and deep.
Part of what I’d like to do here, is explore collecting Alice books on its own right. Almost detached from the book itself, collecting the Alice books, take you on a wonderful ride. Make you into antique book stores, fish for Alice’s. Browse the web, and compete with others to get coveted editions.
contact me here: yonatan@collectingalice.com