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A collection of original printing blocks for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (London: R. Clay, Son, and Taylor for Macmillan and Co., 1865), and for the first edition of Through the Looking-Glass, and what Alice found there (London: R. Clay, Son, and Taylor for Macmillan and Co., 1871).
细节
DODGSON, Charles Lutwidge (‘Lewis Carroll’) (1832-1898) and TENNIEL, John (1820-1914)
A collection of original printing blocks for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (London: R. Clay, Son, and Taylor for Macmillan and Co., 1865), and for the first edition of Through the Looking-Glass, and what Alice found there (London: R. Clay, Son, and Taylor for Macmillan and Co., 1871).
A collection of original printing plates for Tenniel’s celebrated illustrations to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, used in the production of the early editions. John Tenniel's drawings to illustrate Alice's Adventures in Wonderland were transferred to woodcut blocks by the well-known London firm of engravers Dalziel Brothers, and electrotype blocks were prepared from these wooden blocks for the printers. The first edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was printed by The Clarendon Press for Macmillan in 1865 using these blocks. However, when Tenniel saw the first copies, he was not pleased with the reproduction of his illustrations, and persuaded Dodgson to recall all the copies that had been printed (R.L. Green, ed., The Diaries. London, 1953, p.234). Only about 20 copies of that first edition survive; it is one of the rarest and most valuable books in English literature. R. Clay, Son, and Taylor were chosen to print a new edition (which was to be the second, first published, edition), and on 11 August 1865, Dodgson received the first proof sheet from Clay. Macmillan probably suggested Clay because they were 'expert in [the electrotype block] medium' (J. Moran, Clays of Bungay. Bungay, Suffolk: 1984, p.91), and they could be trusted to print the illustrations to Tenniel's exacting standards. The finished book was issued later in the year, and on 9 November 1865, Dodgson described the finished book thus: 'Received from Macmillan a copy of the new impression of Alice – very far superior to the old, and in fact a perfect piece of artistic printing' (R.L. Green, ed., op. cit., p.236). It is possible that the present set of electrotype blocks were used for the book's first printing in June 1865 by The Clarendon Press, and were then transferred to Clay for use in the first published edition (with letterpress text and electrotype illustrations). It is certainly unlikely that they were employed for the sixth edition of October 1868 (or subsequent editions), which were printed from electrotype plates of the text and illustrations. In 1876, Clay bought Charles Child of Bungay's printing business, to supplement the capacity of their London presses in Bread Street Hill, and the present electrotype blocks were taken there at some point after this date (cf. Moran op. cit. p.76). Sets of these blocks selling on the market are rare, although Clays did possess duplicates of them in order to enable large production runs; the set of 49 blocks sold at Christie's New York, 4 December 2018, lot 88, contained 5 in duplicate. Cf. Williams-Madan-Green-Crutch 42, 46, and 84.
Together 12 copper-plated lead printing blocks mounted on wood [11 for Adventures, and one for Looking Glass] electrotyped from the wooden blocks all after John Tenniel and cut by Dalziel Brothers. Provenance: R. Clay, Son, and Taylor (printers, presented to:) — Mark Arman (1914-2007, founder of the Workshop Press, Thaxted, Essex, who used the blocks in his publication The story of the electrotypes used to illustrate Sir John Tenniel's drawings for Alice's adventures in Wonderland & Through the looking glass (Thaxted, 1996) and in printed broadsheets, with one of the latter, Down the Rabbit Hole, included in the lot; sold to:) — the current owner.
A collection of original printing blocks for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (London: R. Clay, Son, and Taylor for Macmillan and Co., 1865), and for the first edition of Through the Looking-Glass, and what Alice found there (London: R. Clay, Son, and Taylor for Macmillan and Co., 1871).
A collection of original printing plates for Tenniel’s celebrated illustrations to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, used in the production of the early editions. John Tenniel's drawings to illustrate Alice's Adventures in Wonderland were transferred to woodcut blocks by the well-known London firm of engravers Dalziel Brothers, and electrotype blocks were prepared from these wooden blocks for the printers. The first edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was printed by The Clarendon Press for Macmillan in 1865 using these blocks. However, when Tenniel saw the first copies, he was not pleased with the reproduction of his illustrations, and persuaded Dodgson to recall all the copies that had been printed (R.L. Green, ed., The Diaries. London, 1953, p.234). Only about 20 copies of that first edition survive; it is one of the rarest and most valuable books in English literature. R. Clay, Son, and Taylor were chosen to print a new edition (which was to be the second, first published, edition), and on 11 August 1865, Dodgson received the first proof sheet from Clay. Macmillan probably suggested Clay because they were 'expert in [the electrotype block] medium' (J. Moran, Clays of Bungay. Bungay, Suffolk: 1984, p.91), and they could be trusted to print the illustrations to Tenniel's exacting standards. The finished book was issued later in the year, and on 9 November 1865, Dodgson described the finished book thus: 'Received from Macmillan a copy of the new impression of Alice – very far superior to the old, and in fact a perfect piece of artistic printing' (R.L. Green, ed., op. cit., p.236). It is possible that the present set of electrotype blocks were used for the book's first printing in June 1865 by The Clarendon Press, and were then transferred to Clay for use in the first published edition (with letterpress text and electrotype illustrations). It is certainly unlikely that they were employed for the sixth edition of October 1868 (or subsequent editions), which were printed from electrotype plates of the text and illustrations. In 1876, Clay bought Charles Child of Bungay's printing business, to supplement the capacity of their London presses in Bread Street Hill, and the present electrotype blocks were taken there at some point after this date (cf. Moran op. cit. p.76). Sets of these blocks selling on the market are rare, although Clays did possess duplicates of them in order to enable large production runs; the set of 49 blocks sold at Christie's New York, 4 December 2018, lot 88, contained 5 in duplicate. Cf. Williams-Madan-Green-Crutch 42, 46, and 84.
Together 12 copper-plated lead printing blocks mounted on wood [11 for Adventures, and one for Looking Glass] electrotyped from the wooden blocks all after John Tenniel and cut by Dalziel Brothers. Provenance: R. Clay, Son, and Taylor (printers, presented to:) — Mark Arman (1914-2007, founder of the Workshop Press, Thaxted, Essex, who used the blocks in his publication The story of the electrotypes used to illustrate Sir John Tenniel's drawings for Alice's adventures in Wonderland & Through the looking glass (Thaxted, 1996) and in printed broadsheets, with one of the latter, Down the Rabbit Hole, included in the lot; sold to:) — the current owner.
荣誉呈献
Julian Wilson
Senior Specialist, Books, Maps & Manuscripts