The Caterpillar, the painted roses and the White Knight: both Alice books in one volume
The John C. Winston Company’s edition of the 1920s pairs John Tenniel’s eighty-nine drawings with four colour plates by Edwin John Prittie: the Caterpillar, the painted roses, the Sheep in her boat and the White Knight.
The story
Lewis Carroll’s two Alice books, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, are bound together here, with John Tenniel’s eighty-nine illustrations.
The John C. Winston Company of Chicago, Philadelphia and Toronto added four full-page colour plates by Edwin John Prittie: “Who are you?” said the Caterpillar; Alice asking the cards why they are painting the roses; the Sheep asking “Can you row?”; and the White Knight, who “had a habit of now and then falling off sideways”. The cover shows Alice and the White Rabbit in a woodland, and blue illustrated endpapers open the book.
Winston first published the edition in this form in 1923; this copy also carries a 1925 copyright notice, and its exact printing is not stated. The cover’s coloured panel and gilt border are rubbed and scratched and the corners and spine edges worn; inside, the text is clean and the colour plates bright.
Details
- Date
- c. 1925 (1923 / 1925 copyright notices)
- Publisher
- The John C. Winston Company, Chicago; Philadelphia; Toronto
- Edition
- Early printing of the Edwin John Prittie-illustrated Winston edition; copyright notices 1923 and 1925
- Binding
- cloth: Pictorial color paper onlay to front board, gilt-lettered spine, illustrated endpapers
- Condition
- Original black/dark blue publisher's cloth, gold-lettered spine and color pictorial paper panel on front; cover has visible rubbing, scratches and wear to colored panel and gold border, and corners/spine edges show light to moderate wear. Pictorial blue endpapers, clean text overall with age toning; the four Prittie color plates are photographed and present with bright imagery. Black-and-white Tenniel drawings throughout. Top edge stained orange. Binding appears intact from photographs; the full 319-page text has not been independently collated. No dust jacket pictured or included. Copyright page has 1923 and 1925 notices; cannot confirm an exact impression statement.
