Month: June 2019

Ada Leonora Bowley

Ada Bowley is another example of skilled Golden Age illustrator (1880s to the 1930s) that have produced a version of Alice in the Wonderland. Pook Press has celebrated this proficuous period by reproducing several books first printed at that time, including several early editions of illustrated Alices. Ada Bowley art work for Alice, dated from 1921, was also reprinted more recently by Pook Press.

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Bowley was an illustrator of children books, producing complex and beautifully coloured images. The original book was a “Come to Life” Panorama unfolding edition, where no credit is given to the illustrator (A. Bowley). Raphael Tuck later published a full book displaying a beautiful pop-up composition and many colour and black and white illustrations, where Ada is finally recognised as the illustrator (she worked for Raphael Tuck as a postcard illustrator and designer for years).

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Charles Robinson

Robinson’s Alice was printed in 1907 when Carroll’s text came into the public domain. Along with it, two full hands of other Alice versions were also published in 1907, contributing to justify why this was the “Golden Age of Illustration”. Robison was a creative illustrator, almost every page of his Alice in the Wonderland contains fascinating full-page drawings or beautiful colour plates, showing unusual inventive page layouts. I am not sure what is more impressive in this book… the colour plates, the black-and-white work, or the many narrow vignettes running through the text.

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Charles Robinson was born in London (Islington) in 1870, he took night lessons in illustration, while working during the day. Due to his early unfortunate financial condition, he was not able to accept a place at the Royal Academy. However, his highly productive career granted him a place at the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, one of the societies in the Federation of British Artists (Mall Galleries, London).

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Alice in the Wonderland, illustrated by Charles Robinson, printed in 1907 by Cassel (there is also a recent edition from Pook Press, 2013).

Benjamin Lacombe

Lacombe offers a subversive version of Alice. This French illustrator celebrated the 150 years of Alice with a magnificent piece of surrealist fantasy. Of note, Lacombe also wrote many of his illustrated works, which are clearly intended for a more adult audience. He obtained his degree in Paris, at “L´École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs”, and represents a new and great generation of French illustrators. His production can be consulted here.

Published in 2017 by Soleil.

Eleonora Mann…

These were the first illustrations of Alice after Tenniel. Interestingly enough, these illustrations were incorrectly attributed to Eleonora Mann, who in fact translated Carroll´s book to the Dutch version. The real identity of the illustrator of “Alice in het land der droomen”, printed in Amsterdam in 1887 by BH Smit, is still unknown…

CARROLL: ALICE, 1890. Illustration by Eleonora Mann for Lewis Carroll's 'Alice's