First edition of "Alice in Wonderland" to go to auction, still considered sort of ugly.

When Alice in Wonderland was ready to be first published in 1865, the book's contented author, Lewis Carroll, was fairly pleased with its outcome. But the illustrator of Alice, Sir John Tenniel, didn't quite feel the same way though.

Tenniel wasn't just unhappy--he hated how his illustrations looked when they were printed by the machines.

A wonky looking Cheshire Cat meets Alice.

In June of 1865, 2,000 copies of Alice were printed, but the release was held. Fifty copies were sent to Carroll to own and distribute as he wished to friends and loved ones. Once Tenniel saw the drawings though, he turned to Carroll and begged a second chance.

On August 2, 1865, Carroll wrote in his diary, "Finally decided on the reprint of Alice, and that the first 2,000 shall be sold as waste paper." Somewhere, a town dump unknowingly became the richest library in England, if only for a day.

Carroll even bit the financial bullet for his collaborator, taking a £600 hit to do a second printing. In 2016 money, that's the equivalent of Carroll giving his friend nearly a £69,000 do-over.

In the end, the book was reprinted with different drawings and became an international treasure. Carroll's original fifty copies were handed out to various people, and over time the majority were lost. Twenty-three still exist, but only six belong in private hands. One of those six copies goes to auction this month through Christie's for an estimated purchase price of $2-to-$3 million.

With no regrets and no do-overs, hopefully.




photo: Christie's Images Ltd.

2,500 people got tattoos to write out the entirety of 'Alice in Wonderland.'

Temporary tattoos, though. It sounds a lot more dedicated when you think 2,500 people are all lined up outside some shady, back alley joint named The Stinky Ink just waiting for a fragment sentence to be forever etched onto their body.

But it's all a promotion from a company called Lithographs, which was looking to advertise their new line of--yes--temporary tattoos. It's like when you were six years old and got some temporary ink of a turtle or narwhal while at some birthday party, except more literary.

Lithographs started a Kickstarter campaign to raise $7,500 to fund the stunt, where 2,500 people who signed up were paid $1 and mailed a temporary tattoo with a fragment of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Contributor's were then asked to send back a photo of the fragment plastered somewhere on their body. And, of course, people got creative, or just made sure we knew they needed a proper manicure.

As a side note, professional hand modeling pays anywhere from $300 a day to thousands per hour. And you don't even need to be literate.



photos: Lithographs

'Alice in Wonderland' is 150-years old today. And now we can see what the original book looked like.

Alice's Adventures under Ground. 

That was the original title Lewis Carroll gave his seminal work, with a subtitle stating it was "A Christmas gift to a dear child in memory of a summer day."

Indeed, there was an Alice--Alice Liddell, specifically--the young daughter of the dean of Christ Church, Oxford, where Carroll was a mathematician. Liddell and her siblings spent time with Carroll, who influenced his creation of a world of make-believe down a rabbit hole.

Now, on the book's 150th anniversary, The British Library (which owns the original manuscript), has an exhibition commemorating the publication. You needn't travel to Britain to see inside the book though, as the Library has posted highlights on its website and Twitter.

Have you visited our #AliceinWonderland exhibition? Don't miss Carroll's original manuscript https://t.co/XXk3WnF1VT pic.twitter.com/4XwwydyHgx

— The British Library (@britishlibrary) November 26, 2015

Everything visually looks great, except for the larger drawing of Alice with what, I can only assume, is a pepper grinder while she works as a server at Olive Garden.




photos: The British Library

Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and The Raven all jazzed up in pillow form.

Once in a great while we dive into literary home decor--and nothing says home decor like a bachelor who writes a blog.

I'm an insomniac. This means I have no use for pillows, because I'm just going to be walking around the house, doing jumping jacks, wind sprints, and drinking a gallon or two of coffee. No sleeping after all.

But maybe--just maybe--if I had a pillow with inspirational Peter Pan quotes written all across it about the magic of sleep, I might just end up in the Land of Nod for once.

Sweet Meadow Designs creates a variety of pillow designs, most with words and phrases--but they also rely on quotes from Lewis Carroll, J.M. Barrie, and even a little Edgar Allan Poe.

The Raven pillow looks amazing, but if I'm going to sleep--ever--I don't need something reminding me "Nevermore."



all from: Sweet Meadow Designs