Alice in Wonderland, the beloved children’s book by Lewis Carroll, is celebrated in Alden library with art, literature.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the first Alice in Wonderland novel: Alice’s Adventures Underground.
To celebrate, Alden Library has created a special exhibit highlighting Lewis Carroll and all things Alice.
The exhibit is called “Down the Rabbit Hole: 150 Years of Alice in Wonderland,” which includes an original manuscript from Carroll’s first Alice adaptation, Alice-themed art by Salvador Dali and several copies of the book in different languages.
Kevin Dennis, a graduate student studying adolescent to young adult education, curated the exhibit along with Miriam Intrator, the archives and special collections librarian at the Mahn Center on the 5th floor of Alden.
The exhibit also includes the original adaptation of the poem The Mouse’s Tale in Carroll’s own handwriting, which is a different version than the one in the mass-published Alice novels of that time, Dennis said.
The backdrop of the exhibit features original illustrations from Carroll himself, along with over a dozen books featuring multiple editions of books in the Alice series.
“A lot of other libraries were doing something for the anniversary, and we decided to do something too,” Intrator said.
In 1864, Carroll told the story of Alice’s Adventures Underground to a colleague's daughter, Alice Liddell, Dennis said. Liddell loved the story so much that Carroll wrote it down. After it being immensely read, Carroll decided to publish the novel, and that’s where the Alice stories started.
Almost all of the books in the exhibit are from the rare book collection in the Mahn Center of Alden. The collection holds works from as far back as the 13th century and from authors all around the globe.
“There are around 46,000 books in the rare book collection,” Intrator said. “A lot of them specialize in juvenile literature, and that’s where the books were found.”
Editions include those from the 19th century and more recent ones, including an album from Jefferson Airplane featuring the song “White Rabbit.”
“It took around three weeks to find all of the materials and set up the exhibit,” Dennis said.
The exhibit has a lot to say about children’s literature in general and the rare book collection itself.
“Up until that point, children’s literature had a moral or some sort of lesson tied in,” Dennis said. “They were cool stories, but they were always about ‘why you should make your bed.’ And it was sometimes very obvious that that was the motive behind the story. But Lewis Carroll just wanted to tell a great story. It was just about a little girl going on adventures, and it didn’t require any thinking. That’s why it was so immensely popular. Even today you see Alice in Wonderland on TV and in pop culture.”
“Down the Rabbit Hole: 150 Years of Alice in Wonderland” is on display until January 11th in Alden library.
@wintuck
hw333514@ohio.edu
