Charles Pears & Thomas H. Robinson – Poor Alice

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Poor, poor Alice, and poor, poor me. This edition was “loved” by some wretched child about a 100 years ago. Few pages were painted over, and overall, it’s in poor condition. I’ll get a finer copy one of these days, but for the purpose of this post, we’ll have to do with this one.
From a collector’s point of view, collecting is either going for quality, or quantity. I know most would choose quality, but unless you have the funds to support it, and as this particular hobby is expensive, I used to go for editions that are in ok-poor condition, just for the sake of having them. Now days I try to get good-fine copies. Anyway, here I go rambling on, and also apologizing for the state of this one. I did clean up about 3 illustrations from the paint added by a previous owner. I’m sorry Pears & Robinson, you deserve a better presentation.

This book is a great contender for the weirdest Alice in Wonderland cover award. Is that Alice on the cover? no. Is it the White Rabbit? no, no. It’s a woman with a tennis racket, holding a couple of balls, about to serve one. Why? oh God knows. I imagine a bored publisher, sitting behind a large desk, when an under paid employee comes over, and says, Sir, what should we put on the cover of the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ book? without bothering to look up, the publisher grunts , ‘just use that board with the Tennis lady, it’ll do’. The rest is history.
Does anyone have an idea? Am I missing out on any tennis match in the book? Isn’t it strange?*

*I’m writing this after digging a bit into an Alice-Tennis connection. Well, as it happens there is one. How mad is that? As a hatter!
After watching a tennis tournament, Charles L. Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, published a piece in 1883, suggesting rules for tennis tournament. Here’s a great blog post about it.

Lewis Carroll - Tennis Rules - Charles Dodgson

Charles Pears created all the colored illustrations, while Thomas Heath Robinson, created the black and white ones. Why this match of illustrators? were they aware of it? I haven’t a clue. Again, a publication with two different Alice’s. I am aware of other Alice editions with their works placed together. As usual, some chaos exists in the stories behind the publications.

Charles Pears (1873-1958) was a British artist, mostly recognized for his marine-related works of art. Read more about him here.
Thomas Heath Robinson (1869–1954), came from a family of artists, and illustrated many books and magazines. Read about him here.

Let’s dive into the book. Images are placed in order of appearance in the book.


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Contender for the weirdest ‘Alice in Wonderland’ book cover award

2-Charles-Pears-Alice-in-Wonderland-pack-of-cards
Charles Pears made all the colored illustrations – This one of Alice about to wake up.

3-Charles-Pears-Alice-in-Wonderland-caterpillar
Alice and the Caterpillar, title page with publishers details – London & Glasgow, Collins’ Clear-Type Press

4-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Alice-and-Sister
All the Black and white illustrations are by T. H. Robinson. This is Alice and her sister

5-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Alice-after-rabbit
Alice going after the White Rabbit

6-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Alice-falling-down-hole
Alice falling down the rabbit’s hole

7-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Drink-me
Drink me

8-Charles-Pears-Alice-in-Wonderland-Mouses-tale
The mouse’s tale

9-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Alice-rabbit
Alice and the Rabbit

10-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Alice-Mouse-pool
Alice swimming with the mouse

11-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Alice-handing-candy
Alice handing candy to the animals

12-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-outside-rabbits-house
Alice by the White Rabbit’s door

13-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Rabbit-and-Bill
White Rabbit and Bill

14-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Alice-puppy
Alice and the Puppy

15-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Caterpillar.
Alice and the Caterpillar

16-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Father-William-1
You are Old Father William – 1

17-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Father-William-2
You are Old Father William – 2

18-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Pigeon
Alice and the Pigeon

19-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Footman
Alice and the Footman

20-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Pig-and-pepper
Pig and pepper

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Alice and the pig baby

22-Charles-Pears-Alice-in-Wonderland-Mad-Tea-Party
A Mad Tea Party – Charles Pears

23-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Mad-Tea-Party
A Mad Tea Party – TH Robinson

24-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Mad-Hatter.
The Mad Hatter

25-Charles-Pears-Alice-in-Wonderland-Croquet
Alice on the Croquet ground with the Queen and King

26-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Painting-the-roses
The gardeners painting the roses

27-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Knave
The Knave of Hearts

28-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Flamingo
Alice and the flamingo

29-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Queen
The Queen and entourage

30-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Duchess
Alice and the Duchess

31-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Gryphon
Alice and the Gryphon

32-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Mock-turtle
The Mock Turtle’s story

33-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-trial
The trial

34-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Tart-thief
The Knave stole the tarts

35-TH-Robinson-Alice-in-Wonderland-Hatter
The Mad Hatter in the trial


~ the End ~









7 comments

  1. I like this Alice edition. Regarding the cover I think the woman we can see is actually Alice, not from this edition though. Her hat reminds me of John R. Neill Alice. As for why she is playing tennis, it might be because this sport was born in victorian England; she is also wearing typical victorian female tennis player uniform. It might be unrelated to the story, but still it represents an activity Alice could do before her sister took her to the riverbank.

  2. I have an illustration from the book of Alice and the Rabbit. Someone gave it to me framed. I wouldn’t ever take an illustration from a book to frame.
    Thanks, your notes helped me identify the illustration –

    I love the strangeness of the cover ❣️

    1. Hi Rebecca,
      On one hand taking out pages from a book should be a punishable crime. however, I have come across many shabby and tattered Alice’s that using them solely for framing their illustration makes all the sense in the world. Yes that random cover. I always think some publisher just had the plates ready or something and thought, yeah what the hell. They wouldnt mind.
      Thank you for the comment, cheers,
      Yonatan

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