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The Blog of the LCSNA

Pursuing an Artist with Smiles and Soap

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Hunting of the Snark Movie

How did the delightful work of art for our Spring Conference Keepsake Fundraiser come to be? It all started about a year ago with an issue of The Snarkologist. As I gazed upon the cover of Volume 1, Fit 3 depicting a joyful little fellow leaping through the air, I thought, “That’s the cutest little Banker I’ve ever seen!” A flip of the page revealed that the illustration was by Jonathan David Dixon, a colorized version of a black-and-white illustration from his edition of The Snark (LCSNA, 1992). An article inside by Stephanie Lovett detailed Jonathan’s long and varied Snark history.

Fast forward nine months to the planning stages of the LCSNA 2023 Spring Conference, when it became clear that a brand new The Hunting of the Snark film would be a feature presentation at our virtual conference/film festival. I was determined to have some sort of fundraiser in concert with our conference, as LCSNA membership has not bounced back to pre-pandemic levels. I thought of our in-person conferences, and how happy everyone always is to get some sort of keepsake to take home. Why not have a keepsake for a virtual conference?

If the subject was the Snark, there was no doubt in my mind whom I wanted to ask to donate his talents and time: Jonathan David Dixon! But would he do it? He’s a busy man, after all: a multitalented multi-hyphenate artist of the stage, screen, and page. Plus, I had no relationship with him, unless you count fangirling and getting him to autograph my copy of Looking-Glass House a few years back. But it couldn’t hurt to ask, right?

Okay, maybe it could hurt to ask …

I took a deep breath and virtually cold-called Jonathan. Much to my delight, he wrote back the next day and said YES, very graciously. Much to my amusement, he let his true feelings be known on Facebook somewhat later:

“Hello, folks!
For the Lewis Carroll Society of North America’s upcoming virtual online meeting on Saturday, April 15th, I was asked to do an illustration that could be printed up as a 5×7 card for a keepsake and fundraising promotion.
I went back and forth, wary that I wouldn’t have the time … but then Heather Simmons recommended that I use my characters from Carroll’s THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK, and I weakened because I love them so much and the temptation to revisit them was strong.
Then, because the theme of the meeting will be Lewis Carroll-inspired movies, she suggested as one possibility the characters wearing 3-D glasses. I shouted, ‘Curse yooouuuu!!! Cuuuurrrrsssse yoooouuuu!!!’ — because I knew then that I had to do it.”

Hey, I have no problem being cursed, with results like these! Jonathan decided the Butcher and Beaver would be attending the movies together, as they are friends now. Flanking them in the darkened movie theater are the Bellman and the Billiard-marker. Fun fact: this is only the second time Jonathan has depicted the Billiard-marker!

5X7 prints of this Dixon original may be purchased through May 15 for just $10.06. (Like ten shillings and six pence? Cute? Yes?) But I wholeheartedly recommend you take the second buying option: for $42, you get a print and a chance to win the original art in a raffle being held at our May 20 virtual event! Intent on increasing your odds? You may buy as many chances as you like!

To those that have already purchased a keepsake print, THANK YOU. All proceeds of this sale go toward bringing you more virtual and in-person events like our Spring Conference/Movie Marathon, which welcomed 162 attendees from 15 countries!

May 15 will be here before you know it! Don’t miss your opportunity to support the LCSNA in the most adorable way possible. Prints will be shipped starting the first week of May.

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Nine More Astonishing New Illustrators

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The response to my post “Nine Astonishing New Illustrators” was overwhelmingly positive, so I think it is time to do another. Most of these were found by an Instagram cadre of Alice collectors, principally “Semper Lux,” “Never Enough Alice Books,” and “Chimera in Wonderland” (@semperluxus, @neverenoughalicebooks, @chimerainwonderland). Many of these artists are also on IG. If you are, may I also highly recommend following Semper Lux for her wonderfully erudite, albeit tongue-in-cheek, reviews of these and many other Alice books?

A truly masterful edition by the award-winning, prolific fantasy artist Paolo Barbieri is widely available in English or Italian. Alice here is a blonde teenager in contemporary dress, although other characters are in Victorian garb; the renderings (b&w drawings and color paintings) are extraordinarily skillful and full of imagination and surprises (Italian: Lo Scarabeo, 2022, 978-8865277966; ‎English: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2023, 978-0738775852).

Sean Dietrich, whose work ranges “from comics to gaming to live art at nightclubs to being one of the biggest artists in the Cannabis arena,” has produced an edition incorporating a fine set of 24 fully-realized illustrations and many concept-art sketches. The art is humorous and full of “grotesqueries” in the positive sense of the word (Red23, 2022, 978-0463179307).

Katsiaryna Dubovik’s illustrations for a Belorusian Looking-Glass (Скрозь люстэрка, і што ўбачыла там Aлica) are highly amusing, a tad reminiscent of those of Hilary (Eloise) Knight, although certainly less realistic (Галіяфы [Goliaths], 2017, 978-9857140398).

Philadelphia artist Cavin Jones walks us through both Wonderland and Looking-glass Land in a series of beautifully drawn pictures, accompanied by poetic riffs on the text. Alice herself is a middle-aged Black woman, and the illustrations are replete with African sculptures and masks. A stunning re-imagining! Alice In Wonderland: A Series Of Drawings and Verses (independently published [POD] in 2020, 979-8605235187).

A stylish Hungarian Wonderland (Alice Csodaországban) illustrated by the multiple-award-winning Katalin Szegedi uses quirky, magical, highly detailed montage illustrations, often full pages, that bear repeated viewing not only for the esthetics, but for the many half-hidden references (General Press Kiadó, 2007, 978-9639648739).

A sweet Ukrainian Wonderland (Аліса в Країні див), combines innovative typography, geometry, and an amiable drawing style (by Inna Maslyak) somewhat reminiscent of Sempé (Ранок [Ranok], 2019, 978-6170955289).

Galina Zinko’s warmly humorous, inviting images (with that most rare bird, an Alice of the right age) are available as follows:
Looking-glass in Ukrainian: Алиса у Задзеркаллі, A-ba-ba-ha-la-ma-ha, 2020, 978-6175851869.
Wonderland in Russian: : Алиса в Стране чудес, Willi Winki, 2018, 978-5171089597.
Looking-glass in Russian: Алиса в Зазеркалье, Willi Winki, 2019, 978-5171179564.
Both books together in Russian: Алиса в Стране чудес / в Зазеркалье, Willi Winki, 2022, 978-5171185343.

The always wonderful Adriana Peliano of the Lewis Carroll Society of Brazil, along with her five-year-old nephew Jorge, has created a truly charming, wordless picture book (42 pages, of course) of Wonderland (Alice Quebra Cabeça, “Alice Puzzle”) based on Tangrams. Click here for details.

The image you see on your left is slightly misleading: this fun Mexican edition is in tête-bêche format (i.e., each upside-down to the other), but that’s not the only idiosyncrasy. Each book has a different illustrator (and translator) and all of the full-page drawings are collected in a 32-page galeria at the back (Maravillas) or front (Espejo) of the books for some odd reason. Anabel López Cabrera’s skillful, stylized illustrations for Maravillas look like they were done on parchment and employ interesting perspectives; Mariana Magdaleno’s for Espejo feature a white-haired Alice and marvelously rendered characters, often in unconventional tableaux (Mirlo, 2018, 978-6071421395).

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Wonderland’s Other Queen?

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According to Emma Capron, one of the world’s leading Renaissance art experts, and curator of The Ugly Duchess: Beauty and Satire in the Renaissance, which opens at the National Gallery in London on March 16, Quinten Massys’s painting An Old Woman, aka The Ugly Duchess, inspiration for Sir John Tenniel’s drawing, is actually a portrait of a male transvestite.

The exhibition will also claim that the drawing of the woman in A Grotesque Couple, attributed to Francesco Melzi, who was Leonardo da Vinci’s leading assistant, inspired Massys’s painting.

A story in The Guardian tells us more; the exhibit runs through June 11.

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Street of Dreams

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Beginning with its pre-title slide that proclaims that Dodgson met Alice in 1863 (it was, of course, in 1856), Elina Street’s 16-minute short film Alice and Lewis (Behind the Door Productions, 2018) plays fast and loose with history as she imagines a story of a usually angry, stammering Dodgson giving mathematics tutoring to a young Alice, who occasionally drops a line or two from what will become Wonderland. As per cinematic convention, they start out at odds and end up great friends, with a story he wrote for her (no mention of a boating expedition, and the film takes place in a snowy winter). I can’t say I was enchanted. Available for rent or purchase on Vimeo and Google Play. (In a Carrollian manner, you can buy it on Google for less than it costs to rent it.)

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How Did We Miss This Great Art?

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From March 27 to April 25, 2021, the Haven Gallery in Northport (Long Island, NY) had a “Lewis Carroll Group Exhibition” in which artists were “invited to look to the writings of Lewis Carroll for inspiration in all visual and thematic elements. Creative homages to the environments, characters, costumes and/or narratives will be explored and reinterpreted in the artists own style.” It’s too bad we didn’t know about it at the time, but we can visit it virtually. Many of the artworks are available for sale.

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Donald Rackin, 1933-2022

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It is with great sadness that we report the passing of a great Carrollian and a true mensch: Donald Rackin passed away on November 23, 2022, at the age of 89 in Philadelphia after a long, brave struggle with Parkinson’s. Donald was a professor of English at Temple University for 33 years, a noted scholar specializing in Victorian literature who published widely on Carroll.

 In 1967, he won the MLA’s prestigious William Riley Parker Prize for his essay “Alice’s Journey to the End of Night.” He has addressed our Society four times and served on our board from 1997 to 2002. An “In Memoriam” column will be devoted to him in the Spring 2023 Knight Letter.

Don was a warm, gentle soul with a fierce intellect always lurking behind his marvelous sense of humor. He will be greatly missed.

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Immersive “Wonderland Dreams”

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“Alexa Meade’s immersive art exhibition Wonderland Dreams is coming to NYC’s iconic 5th Avenue near Bryant Park. Every inch of the 26,000 square foot exhibit space is hand-painted from floor to ceiling in Alexa’s signature 2D/3D painting style, letting visitors step inside a multidimensional work of art. 
Wonderland Dreams brings to life the story of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland through boldly painted art installations, creating a whimsical world that plays with our perspective of art and reality. Fall down the rabbit hole into a world of secret rose gardens, mad tea parties, and a living art gallery that puts you inside the frame.”

It opens Friday, October 7 and runs through April 23, 2023. Information and tickets here.

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Haddock’s Eyes!

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Vladimir Zimakov is a talented Boston-based book artist, designer, and illustrator specializing in techniques such as linocut, silkscreen, and letterpress, among other traditional and digital media. His latest project, four years in the making, is a setting of the White Knight’s poem “Haddock’s Eyes,” as the name of the song is called. The book is “Leporello” or accordion-style, a single folded 28′ (8½ m.) sheet of paper, and is a masterpiece!

Printed from original linocuts, it is housed in a red & brown slipcase; an edition of 34 copies, signed and numbered by the artist; dimensions are 12” × 10” × 1½”; 36 pages.

​Click here for more information and photographs; an 80-minute video about its making is available here; and a .pdf Book Prospectus can be downloaded here.

The price is $1,200 plus shipping. For ordering and any additional information, please contact vzimakov@gmail.com.

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Nine Astonishing New Illustrators

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An absolute cornucopia of truly memorable illustrated editions have recently come our way, many of them discoveries of Adriana Peliano of the LCSBrazil. A few are newly published; some older ones have just come to our attention. Each entry below shows a sample page from the work. The wide range of styles once again demonstrates why Carroll’s masterworks are the most widely illustrated novels in existence. (Prices do not include postage, which in some cases, is more than the cost of the book!)

Yuri Vaschenko’s delightfully droll, pastel-infused illustrations to Wonderland (Алиса в Стране Чудес, Kniga, 1982) and Looking-Glass (Сквозь Зеркало и что там увидела Алиса, или Алиса в Зазеркалье, Kniga, 1986) have heretofore been readily available only in small formats (each book measuring 4 × 5 × 1 inch). In 2015, Vita Nova republished these works together in a deluxe, superbly printed large format (7½ × 10½ × 1½ inches) that at long last does justice to Vaschenko’s witty, hyper-surreal, and splendidly stylized art (ISBN: 978-5-93898-506-3). The perfectly reproduced illustrations were presumably shot from an extremely rare, much larger Russian edition. Given the current tragic political situation, you may wish to order it from a reliable online Finnish bookstore, Ruslania.com. €190.

Made Balbat’s painterly renditions in Alice Imedemaal, an Estonian edition (ISBN 978-9949-099-84-9), are available in signed copies from the artist. The large (9.5 x 11.5 inches) hardcover came out in 2021. It’s worthwhile to note that Alice is depicted at the right age (just turned seven), which is rare in books and almost nonexistent in movies. €36.

A stunningly unusual Italian Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie with ballpoint pen black-and-white illustrations by Giovanni Robustelli was published in a 9 x 12-inch paperback by Edizione Papel in 2018 (ISBN 978-88-904072-3-9). His interpretations are wildly thought-provoking and the linework is exquisite. You can get it directly from the publishers. €28.

A darkly surreal, lavishly illustrated Russian duad (Приключения Алисы в Стране Чудес and Сквозь Зеркало и что там увидела Алиса, или Алиса в Зазеркалье) was published by Arbor in 2020 (ISBN 978-5-6044870-2-0), combining earlier, separate volumes. Svetlana Rumak “fuses deep, layered canvases with translucent monochrome crop prints for fantastic visual variety.” Wonderland is in rich, full color: Looking-Glass in monochrome blue. More pictures can be found on her site. It is also available from Ruslania. €100.

A somewhat more conventional, but still exciting, Italian Le avventure di Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie (AW) illustrated by Sonia Maria Luce Possentini was released in 2017 by Corsiero (ISBN 978-88-98420-51-3). Some pages are horizontal fold-outs. Available from the publisher. €26.50.

It was particularly difficult to find a “typical” illustration here, as Alexey Fedorenko’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, published in an edition of 999 in 2011 by Verlag add-books (ISBN: 978-3000340222), utilizes a different style for almost every picture! Originally done as a Master’s thesis at the University of Applied Sciences in Manheim, Germany, its range is remarkable, from watercolors through graffiti, Japanese woodblocks, tattoos, collage, deco, Aztec, etc. Some nudes appear. In a plush hardcover and boxed, it is still available from Amazon in Germany. €39.90.

Ekaterina Kostina’s delightful and often surprising full-page paintings for Алиса в Зазеркалье (LG) were published in a large-format hardcover by Kacheli in 2021 (ISBN 978-5-907302-51-8). Her imaginative paintings often feature unusual perspectives. Again, Ruslania stocks them. €35.

Alicia en el país de las maravillas | Alicia a través del espejo (AW/LG) in a tête-bêche (upside down to each other) format contains hysterically funny portraits of the characters by Mexican illustrator Juan Gedovius. Published by Penguin Random House (ISBN: ‎978-6073186032 ) it is available from many online Mexican bookstores (www.amazon.com.mx stocks them, but will not deliver to the U.S.) MX$249 (around US$12).

Saving my favorite for last, Kirill Chelushkin’s outlandish allegorical paintings of a very modern blue-haired Alice moving among vast industrial machines and spaces is perhaps the most individualistic and creative approach to Alice since Dalí’s. The book itself is a marvel: 13 x 10.5 inches of handmade, beautifully printed splendor with a hand-designed typeface as well (ISBN 978-5-6041147-0-4). More pictures and ordering information can be found on the artist’s site. $1,500.

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The Tricycle Down the Rabbit Hole

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Fedde Benedictus’s site “The Tricycle Down the Rabbit Hole” contains musings on various topics from the perspective of a philosopher of physics. His “Numbers in Wonderland” thread has five episodes to date that are based on Alice in Wonderland and are thought-provoking, understandable, and rather droll as well. Fedde teaches at Amsterdam University College and is the managing editor of a theoretical physics journal, Foundations of Physics.

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