Alice in Wonderland Illustrations
When we think of Alice in Wonderland the version we think of most fondly it is probably the one illustrated by John Tenniel, although many versions have appeared since. It might seem strange now but the John Tenniel’s Alice in Wonderland illustrations nearly did not happen.
John Tenniel was a perfectionist when illustrating a book he wanted his illustrations to be very close to the descriptions found in the book and was prepared to read the books many times but for Alice’s author, Lewis Carroll was never happy with his illustrations. The two men spent hours arguing every time they met until one day John Tenniel walked out. Alice in Wonderland was eventually printed with his illustrations.
John Tenniel worked for 50 years as an illustrators for Punch magazine in London and said himself that between 1850 and 1900 the year he retired only 6 issues of the magazine did not contain one of his illustrations. Besides Alice in Wonderland he produced a vast amount of caricatures, drawings and illustrations. What it is more astounding is that he was actually blind in one eye. His father was a fencing instructor and one day when John Tenniel was a teenager, they went out together for some fencing practice and by mistake hit his son in one eye. John Tennie did not want his father to feel guilty and never told him of the lost of his sight. John Tenniel died in 1914 a few days before his 94th birthday. Alice in Wonderland books with John Tenniel’s illustrations are still regularly printed today and are easy to find. His illustrations are also printed on other objects such as greeting cards, calendars, posters and prints.
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