The Main Library (Civic Center) of the San Francisco Public Library celebrates Alice this month. It begins with an exhibit at the sixth-floor Skylight Gallery, The Illustrated Alice: The Imagining of Wonderland, which runs Tuesday, January 10 through Saturday, April 1. Its Annual Holiday Lecture takes place on Thursday, January 26, at 6 p.m. in the Koret Auditorium, to wit, Mark Burstein’s “What IS It about Alice?” illustrated talk. All is tied to the Spring meeting of our fine Society, which also takes place at the Koret, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 1. All events are free and open to the public.

Illustration by Adriana Peliano.

David Elliot has done it again! The multi-award-winning New Zealand writer and illustrator who produced an amazing version of The Snark in 2006 has written and lavishly illustrated Snark: Being a true history of the expedition that discovered the Snark and the Jabberwock … and its tragic aftermath, published by Otago University Press. Based around the discovery and purchase of an old box that contained an expedition diary kept by the Boots, it describes the events of the voyage, including the surprising discovery of the Jabberwock! Both poems are fully illustrated herein as well. A most handsome production, a fine tale, and a delight for all Carrollians! Jacketed hardback, full color, 250 x 285 mm (9.8 x 11.2 inches), 208 pages, ISBN 978 1 877578 94 6. Highly recommended! Order directly from the distributors here (same price as Amazon).

Gerald Barry’s Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, a co-commission with the Royal Opera, where the piece was presented on November 28 at the Barbican with much the same cast, had its premiere on November 22 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, under the baton of Thomas Adès. Described as “completely bonkers” by The Daily Telegraph and “the craziest opera yet” in a review in the L. A. Times, the 50-minute piece by a composer referred to by the staid New Yorker as “an exuberant anarchist who traffics in polystylistic delirium,” the piece seems to have captured the mad spirit of the original, and garnered wildly positive reviews. Here’s hoping it makes it to CD, DVD, or, better, other performances. The LA Phil had this to say about it. You can hear an interview and excerpts here.

Was Lewis Carroll’s hand-drawn manuscript of Through the Looking-Glass destroyed, or did it just go underground for almost 150 years? Looking-Glass House: The Lost Manuscript of Through the Looking-Glass imagines the rough draft of Carroll’s 1871 sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in Carroll’s own meticulous handwriting and features more than thirty pen-and-ink illustrations that look astonishingly similar to Carroll’s own charming drawings from Alice’s Adventures under Ground. See how Carroll might have imagined the chess kings and queens, the Jabberwock, and the Tweedle twins before Tenniel drew them!

Lovingly “re-“created by Daniel Rover Singer, illustrated by Jonathan David Dixon, designed by Andrew Ogus, with editorial oversight by Mark Burstein, this is a must-have! Order from Amazon here.

We are very sad to learn that the extraordinary artist David Delamare passed away peacefully of natural causes on September 19th at the age of 64. His magical vision of Wonderland is preserved in a spectacular edition published by his wife, Wendy Ice, which will be available next month. Please read her lovely tribute to him on Kickstarter.

Torrid, the “plus-size” offshoot of teen-fashion merchandizer Hot Topic, has a fragrance called “Curiouser and Curiouser” (“with notes of rose, amber, pink peony, cedarwood, and honey”). You can get it in a bottle or spray. It seems to be related to Hot Topic’s line of similarly named goods: locket, t-shirts, throw, bag, and hairbrush.

Okay, it came out in 2014, but we just found out about it (thanks, Adriana!): Marks & Spencer’s Christmas ad that’s a mashup of Oz and Wonderland, not to mention Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and a magic carpet ride. Warning: a pretty girl (Rosie Huntington-Whitely) is occasionally seen in lingerie, and Helena Bonham-Carter has a cameo. This almost makes up for the cat video posted yesterday.

I didn’t think it was possible to sink lower than Disney’s Alice Through the Looking Glass, but apparently it is. The Disney IRL folks have re-created the tea-party scene from that abhorrent film … using cats. For you who like that sort of thing, click here. For the rest of us, kill me now.

The White Rabbit restaurant and bar, located on the 16th floor of 3 Smolenskaya Square, is the epitome of dining elegance. Currently ranked #18 in the World’s Fifty Best Restaurants™ (by The Diners Club), “As the name may suggest, the restaurant whimsically embraces an Alice In Wonderland theme – think lots of rabbits and rococo furniture.” There is much to admire in its spectacular decor, and for the 150th anniversary last year they had a weekly “Alice in Wonderland gastronomic performance” at the Gastrobar.

“I suppose I ought to eat or drink something or other; but the great question is ‘What?’”