55 Favorites: #20

I first wrote about the Alice books here in early 2010.



While it was clear that they and discussion around them were things I loved, I’d not
yet begun this series of posts — although Martin Gardner’s Annotated Alice work got referenced in the debut installment later that year. So inducting them officially into my roster of 55 Favorites (and counting) didn’t feel necessary until a few recent events persuaded me.

The above pic came to light as I was going through some cloud photos. I had wanted
to provide a look at my Alice items on the shelf, unpacked from the boxes they’d been in; however, I’d rearranged and decided the best place for them was on a vintage dresser topped with a mirror — if you get it, you get it — and pieces set to hold small lamps but also good for teacups. Since the items have been sitting piled on that dresser with other stuff mixed in for too long now, I’m sharing the older incarnation despite having added to my modest collection and sadly not being able to revert the photo to the wider shot I must have taken back then.

On the right you’ll see a plain edition of Alice in Wonderland, as it’s long been popularly known, followed by five iterations of Annotated Alice. On display in the middle are a Little Golden Book tied to Disney’s 1951 animated film and a large coloring book, a jigsaw puzzle, a deck of cards, and a bar of soap, all to some degree incorporating John Tenniel’s illustrations. On the left is The Complete Alice, released for Wonderland’s 150th anniversary in 2015, followed by Rod Espinoza’s manga adaptation of Wonderland, a facsimile edition of Carroll’s original manuscript, and pop-up versions of “Jabberwocky” from Through the Looking-Glass and Wonderland abridged, plus Stephanie Lovett Stoffel’s The Art of Alice.

I’ve just this week put together a dedicated page for the 55 Favorites (and counting) series that can be reached through a sidebar graphic as well as a link at the bottom of each related post, since the reverse chronology in which the blog returns tag results is less than elegant.

The creation of that page combined with my discovery of the shelfie and the desire to
do a slight reset on these posts for a perfect albeit extremely placid storm. I’d like to return for the most part to alphabetical order for 55 Favorites (and counting), although I’ve had one entry in the works that will again break the pattern and there will surely be more added on a whim due to the feature’s sporadic nature only barely outpacing my birthdays overall.

I very much hope the list gets finished before my own 150th anniversary because it’s doubtful Blogger will still be updating then.


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Related: A, Plus • There’s a Place • Not So Frabjous