"Alice in Wonderland was born on a golden afternoon in 1862, created as an entertainment for a party of boaters out for a day on the Thames. Its creator, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, was a mathematics professor, an introverted man who nevertheless delighted in enthralling children with stories and magic tricks. This day he devised a tale centered on his favorite young friend, Alice Liddell. So enchanted was she with her adventures that she insisted they be written down for her to keep.

From that beginning came the two books that so many have treasured since--Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Saw There. And though he wrote with Alice Liddell in mind, Dodgson--who took the pen name Lewis Carroll--created a work that would beguile young and old alike: the young become immersed in the narrative of Alice's many strange adventures, while adults better appreciate Dodgson's barbed yet merry satires and his brilliantly unconventional use of language.

This beautiful volume features 81 line drawings by John Tenniel, who worked under Dodgson's exacting supervision, and eight color plates. Also featured here is a new introduction to the books by Camille Paglia, author of Sexual Personae and a lifelong Alice fan.
--back cover