1907 marks an important year in Wonderland’s publication timeline. The copyright for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, originally published in 1865, expired that year, and with it came a wave of new editions, including some of the most beautiful ever produced. Chief among them was the version illustrated by one of the world’s most celebrated artists, Arthur Rackham.
Now, my review of Rackham’s Alice, like all reviews here, isn’t the result of any academic study. Please take everything with a grain of salt, and I warmly encourage my nonexistent readers to question anything I write.
Rackham’s vision of Alice and Wonderland stands apart from many of his predecessors and contemporaries. He was, I believe, the first to tap into something darker, the sense that Alice’s journey isn’t just whimsical, but unsettling. She’s a lost girl in a world that feels cold, unfriendly, even a bit menacing.
Take a look at his illustration of Alice beside the White Rabbit.
Notice their bodies. She’s crouched and twisted, unsure of herself, and the rabbit? He’s no Disney funny-bunny. He’s a real rabbit, life-sized and looming, with sharp features and unsettling red eyes. The whole scene is tinged with unease. The barren tree, the dry streambed, this isn’t the bright, curious Wonderland we’re used to. It’s stark, almost ghostly. Would you feel safe wandering here? Would you really want to take tea with that guy?
Lets start at the beginning though.
I have a couple of Rackham’s in my Alice in wonderland book collection, this one is the slightly fancier one. 1st edition, 1907, purchased on ebay, for around $120, if I recall correctly. 
The front cover, with Alice, and the Gryphon, listening to the sad story of the Mock Turtle
Inside cover, I recognize Bill the lizard, the White Rabbit, and the mad tea party trio (im guessing here).
Rackham’s Alice seems to be older than Tenniel’s Alice, older than Carroll’s initial drafts. She’s somewhere between childhood and adolescence. Perhaps Rackham recognized Alice’s journey through Wonderland, as journey of a girl entering the world of adults.
If my memory serves me right, Alice never meets other children. The one freaky time she’s close to it, is in Pig and Pepper chapter, with the baby turning into the pig. All else are presented as adults, with issues, and jobs, and fears, and serious tones, and dire threats.
Perhaps making her older, corresponds with how Rackham perceived Wonderland. As a place that’s really not for kids. 
Rackham’s Alice, in a colored illustration that’s positioned before the title page. 
Title page, with the White rabbit, and a few gardners / card soldiers. First edition, 1907, publishers details: New York ‘Doubleday’ Doran & Co. London, ‘William’ Heinenmann, Ltd.
Alice sees the White Rabbit going to his hole, to Wonderland
Curiouser and curiouser
Alice and the animals swimming in her pool of tears
The caucus race crowd. Note how the Dodo is made to have human hands. I have to get back to the script, to see if anything in the text suggests the human features, but if Ill have to toss a wild guess, then its due to the Dodo’s symbolic representation. As Charles L. Dodgeson, on that golden afternoon in July 1862, made up on the spot, the story of Alice in Wonderland, he incorporated in that story parts for all listeners, as well as himself. He was the dodo.
As the story goes, Dogeson used to have a stutter, and when presenting himself, he would say – Do..Do…Dogeson, hence Dodo.
Alice and the mouse
The well dressed White Rabbit, mistaking Alice for his Mary-Ann, and sends her to fetch his fan and gloves
Alice receiving advice from a caterpillar
Alice shrinking after nibbling a bit of mushroom
Alice freaking out the Pigeon, perceiving her as a serpent, out to get her eggs
Alice and the frog-footman
Alice, the Duchess, the baby, the insane cook, and the Cheshire cat
Alice and the Pig-baby
The Cheshire cat grinning
Alice and the Cheshire cat, that’s gradually dissolving
A mad tea party, Alice with the hatter, the march hare and the dormouse
The gardners paining the roses, getting scolded by the Queen
Alice playing Wonderland-style Croquet
The Cheshire cat trolling the Queen
The Queen’s executioner
The Queen’s Croquet Ground
The Gryphon
Alice, the Gryphon, and the Mock turtle
The Mock turtle
Who stole the tarts?
The cook
Alice awakens
Hello! What do you think is the worth of this particular edition out of curiosity? I see some don’t have the edition/date on the first pages and am having a hard time telling the value. thank you!
Hi Kim,
It depends on the condition. I’d estimate it’ll be in the $150-$400 range. Good-Excellent condition.
There are quite a few Arthur Rackham Alice in Wonderland editions. I myself have a couple, this being the nicer one.
Don’t know if this is still active, but I have two additions.
The first is that I think the three figures with the White Rabbit on the inside cover are probably “the little crowd of animals” that attend to Bill after he is ejected from the chimney, rather than the Mad Tea Party.
The second is about the Dodo’s human hands: I think the reason for that might be because John Tenniel drew the Dodo with hands. If you look at the illustration of the Dodo presenting Alice with the thimble, you can see he has hands coming out from under his wings. I say this because there seem to be a lot of nods to Tenniel’s illustration choices (like the Ace of clubs as the executioner – he isn’t described that way in the text). Although now that I reread that chapter, the Dodo is described as having fingers.
Thank you Jack, these are fantastic comments! It does make sense that these are Poor Bill’s little crowd of animals,
as it’s clearly the scene, but I not entirely sure it’s not a sort of collage from other parts of the story.
Regarding Tenniel, you’re absolutely right. If / when i’ll go a edit this blog one of these days, I’ll be sure to add your comments in the text body.