Bessie Pease Gutmann – Toddler Alice

Bessie Pease Gutmann (1876-1960), an American illustrator, famous for her illustrations of toddlers. Her edition of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ was first published in 1907, followed by her edition of ‘Through the Looking glass’ out in 1909.
Read more about her here.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a copy of Bessie Pease’s ‘Looking Glass’ edition. I do own a copy of her ‘Wonderland’ from 1907. Sadly, a wretched child, colored-in many of the black and white illustrations. I do have one big clue as to who that child was, as there’s a gift inscription to Lois, from her aunt and uncle. However, when Michael Corleone, asked Hyman Roth, who gave the order to kill Frank Pentangeli, Hyman Roth gets upset, and mutters that when he heard about Moe Greene’s fate, he didn’t ask who gave the order. So, I’m not asking who colored those pages. This is the life that we’ve chosen. Some of these Alice editions have been loved and adored by children for over 100 years. Of course we collectors, aspire to getting books in pristine condition, but those are usually extremely expensive and i’d rather have a somewhat damaged copy than not having any at all. I do also want to make a point that there is some charm in having a book that has been read and loved by many generations, and I am just another one in a long line of people enjoying these books. That’s ok.

Pease made Alice a toddler, in a toddlers world. The characters are sweet and friendly. The Gryphon looks like a harmless Gecko.
Some of the characters are illustrated with a realistic animalistic visuals (the mock turtle looks like a turtle, the caterpillar is a caterpillar).
The way she’s chosen to portray the Wonderland staff, and soldiers as headless cards, is a bit freaky in a way though.
A note about the way the colored images are viewed here, they come out looking pointalized, due to how they were printed. It’s sub optimal, but then, the colored-in b&w ones, make them look great in comparison.
Let’s dive into the book’s illustrations.


Title page. Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, Bessie Pease Gutmann. Published by Dodge Publishing Company.


The White Rabbit off to Wonderland. See how some child colored his coat in red? That’s their best work in this book. You’ll see…



The Causcus race animals


Alice speaks to the Dodo, with the rest of the Caucus race crew around


Alice in the White Rabbit’s house, growing rapidly. Note that font under the colored images, somewhat medieval, isn’t it?



Alice’s giant hand, startling the Rabbit.


The Puppy


Alice and the Caterpillar, that look like your average caterpillar


The Footmen


Pig and pepper, dishes. Why illustrate the fun-most scene with the Duchess, the Cheshire cat, the cook, and Alice, if you can just do the dishes?


The Pig baby


The Cheshire cat


The March Hare house


A Mad tea party with the Hatter and the March hare (hey where’s the dormouse, Gutmann?)


Some headless cards for you


Alice and the gardners


Alice with the Gryphon and the Mock turtle


Alice and the Gryphon


Must be the executioner, with a couple of the Queen’s thugs


The White rabbit at the trial


The trial, with the White rabbit, the Queen and King