The Complete Alice in Wonderland (67 page)

Unto an evil counsellor

Close heart and ear and eye,

And learn a lesson from this tale

Of the spider and the fly.

By Jane Taylor

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

When the blazing sun is gone,

When he nothing shines upon

Then you show your little light,

Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the traveller in the dark

Thanks you for you tiny spark:

He could not see which way to go,

If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep,

And often through my curtains peep,

For you never shut your eye

’Til the sun is in the sky.

As your bright and tiny spark

Lights the traveller in the dark,

Though I know not what you are,

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

by James M. Sayle

Beautiful star in heav’n so bright,

Softly falls thy silv’ry light,

As thou movest from earth afar,

Star of the evening, beautiful star.

Beautiful star,

Beautiful star,

Star of the evening, beautiful star.

In Fancy’s eye thou seem’st to say,

Follow me, come from earth away.

Upward thy spirit’s pinions try,

To realms of love beyond the sky.

Shine on, oh star of love divine,

And may our soul’s affection twine

Around thee as thou movest afar,

Star of the twilight, beautiful star.

by Mark Wilks Call

In summer, when the days are long,

Alone I wander, muse alone;

I see her not, but that old song,

Under the fragrant wind is blown,

In summer, when the days are long.

Alone I wander in the wood,

But one fair spirit hears my sighs;

And half I see the crimson hood,

The radiant hair, the calm glad eyes,

That charmed me in life’s summer mood.

In summer, when the days are long,

I loved her as I loved of old;

My heart is light, my step is strong,

For love brings back those hours of gold,

In summer, when the days are long.

(Mother Goose)

The Queen of Hearts,

She made some tarts,

All on a summer’s day;

The Knave of Hearts,

He stole the tarts,

And took them clean away.

The King of Hearts

Called for the tarts,

And beat the Knave full sore;

The Knave of Hearts

Brought back the tarts,

And vowed he’d steal no more.

(Mother Goose)

Tweedledum and Tweedledee

Agreed to have a battle;

For Tweedledum said Tweedledee

Had spoiled his nice new rattle.

Just then flew down a monstrous crow,

As black as a tar-barrel;

Which frightened both the heroes so,

They quite forgot their quarrel.

ONE OF my frustrations as a Carrollian devotee is that
most
of the works concerning Alice are highly erudite, deep to the point of absolute thickness and gravely all-too-serious. While such works are informative, I believe the intelligent and pleasure-seeking reader is too often overwhelmed by the grim nature of a steady diet of such works. I recommend a few of the best of them below, but I
also
offer some of the best visual books, most entertaining story compilations, and flat-out funny books available. I believe Mr. Carroll would agree with me when I insist that humorous stories should
not
become such a drudgery to read!
 
Please enjoy my admittedly eccentric list, which I believe exemplifies the finest books on Carroll out there (both academic and otherwise).

Alice’s Adventures in Oxford
:
 
A rare and diminutive book that provides a gorgeous array of photographs and some brilliant insights into Alice’s real-world Oxfordian environment. Highly recommended, but frustrating to find.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
, illustrated by Robert Ingpen:
 
This beautiful edition is my favorite
Alice
for children, due to its lavish, touching and imaginative illustrations.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Hunting of the Snark and Through the Looking-Glass
, illustrated by Mervyn Peake:
 
An acquired taste, Peake’s illustrations are some of the most brilliant, heart-felt and personal portraits of Alice’s world in existence.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
, illustrated by Peter Weevers:
 
This edition has some of the very finest illustrations of the classic story (outside of Tenniel, of course!).

The Alice Companion
, by Jo Elwyn Jones and J. Francis Gladstone:
 
An extremely helpful “encyclopedia” of real-world Alice connections.

Alice in Sunderland
, by Bryan Talbot:
 
A bold, headstrong and wonderfully eccentric graphic novel, focusing on one man’s obsession with Alice, Carroll and the Sunderland region. This one is all over the place, in a good way!

Alice in Wonderland:
 
The Visual Guide
, by Jo Casey and Laura Gilbert:
 
The beautiful companion book to the recent hit movie. Gorgeous and inspiring.

Alternative Alices
, edited by Carolyn Sigler:
 
An excellent collection of Alice-themed stories and essays.

The Annotated Alice
, by Martin Gardner:
 
By far the best “classic” print edition of
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
and
Through the Looking-Glass
.

The Annotated Hunting of the Snark
, by Martin Gardner:
 
The finest print edition of Carroll’s nonsensical epic.

Aspects of Alice
, edited by Robert Phillips:
 
A brilliant collection of Alice-oriented reflections and research essays.

Beyond the Looking-Glass:
 
Reflections of Alice and Her Family
, by Colin Gordon:
 
A masterfully researched, sympathetic and moving portrait of Alice Liddell and her family.

The Illustrators of Alice in Wonderland
, by Graham Ovenden and John Davis:
 
This difficult-to-find, tiny book features a spectacular array of the various illustrations created for Alice over the past 150 years.

Jabberwocky
, illustrated by Graeme Base:
 
Arguably the finest illustrated version of Carroll’s classic poem. Very fun for children and the young at heart.

Lewis Carroll:
 
A Biography
, by Morton N. Cohen:
 
The most helpful and in-depth Carroll biography, in my opinion. (There are many more excellent biographies, but they become drear and repetitive after awhile!)

Lewis Carroll:
 
An Illustrated Biography
, by Derek Hudson:
 
Other biographies are far more studious and authoritative, but I recommend this one for the casual reader due to its wonderful collection of photographs and illustrations. One of the best “short” biographies out there.

Lewis Carroll As I Knew Him
, by Isa Bowman:
 
An intriguing short “confessional” by one of Carroll’s “child-friends,” unique for some of its insights and personal asides concerning the mysterious gentleman.

Lewis Carroll:
 
The Complete Illustrated Works
:
 
I have issues with this compilation, but it is still one of the best print bargains out there for a reader who wants to see the full breadth of Carroll’s other creations.

Lewis Carroll and His World
, by John Pudney:
 
A charming short biography of Lewis Carroll, primarily of value due to its treasure trove of photographs.

Lewis Carroll:
 
Photographer
, by Roger Taylor and Edward Wakeling:
 
If you can afford it, this is probably the best collection of Carroll’s photographs (including many of Alice and the other Liddells).

The Lewis Carroll Picture Book
, edited by Stuart Dodgson Collingwood:
 
The classic collection of Carroll’s juvenilia, miscellanea and rarer works. Filled with his illustrations, puzzles and photographs as well.

The Magic of Lewis Carroll
, edited by John Fisher:
 
An baffling and occasionally brilliant collection of Carroll’s games and puzzles.

The Real Alice
, by Anne Clark:
 
Probably the finest biography of Alice Liddell, including a plethora of rarities.

The Snark Was a Boojum:
 
A Life of Lewis Carroll
, by James Playsted Wood:
 
An idiosyncratic and amusing glimpse of Lewis Carroll. A bit outdated, but pleasantly light.

The Victorian Fairy Tale Book
, by Michael Patrick Hearn:
 
While not strictly an Alice book, this is one of the best collections for readers who want to experience other, more obscure tales of Victorian fairy lands.

Compiled by Kent David Kelly

TRUE TO Carroll’s playful, bookish and thoroughly Victorian nature, the “Alice” stories are filled with words that are delightful, odd and nonsensical. Many of these definitions are featured in the texts themselves, while others can be deciphered in context. Considering the endless stream of such confusing terms, however, it may be beneficial to gather them all in one place for the benefit of the inquisitive reader.

Further, Carroll assumed the reader’s casual familiarity with various Victorian objects which scarcely exist in our world any longer (such as sal-volatile, treacle, nosegays and bathing-machines). When added to Carroll’s own intentionally odd inventions, these items (while charming) only add to the reader’s confusion.