First edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

On the afternoon of July 4, 1862, Charles Dodgson (pen name Lewis Carroll), an Oxford University professor, undertook a rowing trip along the Thames, accompanied by the daughters of his colleague Henry Liddell, dean of Christ College. Seeking to entertain the Liddell children, he composed a story about a girl who falls down a rabbit hole, setting in motion a series of fantastic adventures. The tale so delighted one of the youngsters, Alice, that she asked him to write it down. Dodgson complied, and the resulting work, enlarged and featuring illustrations by the noted cartoonist John Tenniel, was published several years later. Today Dodgson’s creation remains one of the most loved and influential works of Victorian literature, continuing to fire the imaginations of young and old alike.