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The Blog of the LCSNA

Lewis Carroll Phillustrated

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Roger Allen, a long-time member of the LCS(UK), has produced a very amusing booklet, Lewis Carroll Phillustrated, of 42 pages measuring 8 x 11¾ inches and beautifully illustrated in color “focusing on Carroll’s connections with the post office and postage stamps.” The pamphlet consists “of most of the characters and scenes in the Alices and the Snark, illustrated by means of postage stamps of the world, all culled from his own copious collection.” Roger has asked that interested parties send a $20 bill (although we really don’t recommend sending cash via the mail!) or a sterling check for 13 GBP (no checks in US dollars) to:

Mr. Roger E. Allen
29 Soloman Drive
Bideford, Devon EX39 5XY
England

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Illustrating Alice

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Alice, Copyright by Alain Gauthier

This just in from LCSNA President Mark Burstein:

A gorgeous fine press book from Artists’ Choice Editions in London makes good on its promise of “an international survey of illustrated editions,” with over 400 pictures from the works. Unlike other books on the subject that tend to only print pictures in public domain, this one is truly inclusive, and global. There are articles both historically by region and by some of the illustrators themselves (Barry Moser, Ralph Steadman, Helen Oxenbury, Jan Svankmajer, and the like). Checklists abound. In both Standard and Special editions, the latter carrying four signed giclée prints. You can order books or ask for a prospectus here.

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Sequel in the Works for Disney-Burton-Woolverton Alice in Wonderland

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In case you hadn’t already heard, regardless of what many Carrollians may have thought of Disney’s Tim Burton/Linda Woolverton Alice in Wonderland 3D flick, the film has grossed over $1 billion worldwide, so of course a sequel is in the works–penned yet again by Ms. Woolverton.  Apparently the sequel will be “inspired” by Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There.  Given that Ms. Woolverton has already shown her version of Alice “empowering” herself by slaughtering the Jabberwock (and drinking its purple blood, in true warrior style) in the first movie, one wonders what acts of violence Alice will be called upon to perform in the sequel to prove that she’s an “empowered” woman, with that pesky Jabberwock already out of the way.  Perhaps she’ll actually carve the mutton?  Perhaps she’ll carve up everyone in the banquet hall while she’s at it, for good measure.  Or maybe the Jabberwock’s female partner will make an enraged appearance for the finale?  One wonders whether Helena Bonham Carter will be asked back to fulfill the obligatory “evil Red Queen” role; she certainly was a highlight of the first film.  And given that the second book includes the character of “Hatta” we can almost certainly count on seeing the wacky countenance of Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter again.   It would certainly be nice to have Mia Wasikowska back in the lead role; she lent considerable grace to the first effort.  Let’s hope that this time around, Ms. Woolverton will at least entertain the possibility that Alice can take charge of things without drawing blood.  You know, the way Lewis Carroll’s original Alice did.  We can dream, can’t we?

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ABC Puts a Genie in Wonderland

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Here’s a sadly amusing tidbit from the Washington Post:

“ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” spinoff — “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland” — kicks off Thursday nights in the fall. In this update of the Lewis Carroll classic, two guys (okay, one’s the White Rabbit) save Alice from “a doomed fate” in which doctors want to “cure” her of her dreams of hookah-smoking caterpillars, fading cats and the handsome genie she’d fallen in love with while down the rabbit hole and thought she’d lost forever — which Carroll forgot to mention in the book.

The addition of this new drama, about Alice and her demon lover, to a lineup that also includes soaps “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal,” makes for a “powerful night of empowered women,” Lee told reporters on that phone conference call.

“Well, thank heaven for one good laugh today!” we replied, in our head.”

And in case you think this is some sort of late April Fool’s prank, dear Mimsy Minions, here’s the trailer:

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Parallel Alices: Alice Goes All Medieval

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Parallel Alices: Alice through the Looking-Glass of Eleanor of Aquitaine by Christopher Tyler, a visual psychophysicist and the creator of the autostereogram (“Magic Eye” pictures), is an erudite yet approachable and very well designed look at the pervasive mediaeval themes throughout the Alice  books, focusing on the remarkable parallels between the travails of the fictional Alice and a historical Alice who lived in the time of the knights and castles, duchesses, and chess games that figure so largely in the narrative. The earlier Alice of the Vexin spent her life as a trading pawn of the monarchs of England and France, a lost soul on the checkerboard of twelfth-century territorial intrigues. A daughter of Louis VII of France, for much of her life she was held hostage by the Plantagenet court, successively held as a bargaining chip by Queen Eleanor and Kings Henry II, Richard the Lionheart, and John. To order or investigate further, visit parallelalices.com.

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Peter and Alice (and Dame Judi and Ben)

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Playwright (Red) and screenwriter (Skyfall, Hugo, Sweeney Todd, etc.) John Logan has written a new play inspired by the fact that in 1932, Alice Liddell Hargreaves met Peter Llewelyn Davies, the inspiration for Peter Pan, at the Bumpus bookshop in London as part of a centenary tribute to Carroll. Logan wondered what the two immortal inspirations might have said to each other. Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw play the leads; it is directed by Michael Grandage and currently playing at the Noel Coward Theatre in London. More information can be found on LCSNA member Cathy Rubin’s blog by clicking here.


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New Alice-Themed Music Project

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We’ve just received the following note about a new indie music effort and Indiegogo campaign:

I’m writing because my band is recording an album of poem-song adaptations from “Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland” and “Through the Looking-Glass.” We’ve already recorded half the tracks, and we launched an Indiegogo album pre-sale campaign on May 4th to raise the funds needed cover the costs of additional recording, mixing, mastering, and duplication. Our album, “Contrariwise,” will be released on November 4th. I hope you’ll consider posting a link to our Indiegogo page, where we have a letter describing the project in more detail, as well as a 4 minute video that includes snippets fromrough demos of our versions of “Jabberwocky,” “Beautiful Soup,” “Queen Alice,” and others:http://igg.me/at/Contrariwise

If you’re into Alice-themed music, you might want to check it out!

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Mushroom Flash Drive

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From the “just when you thought you’d seen it all” department, along with the “Gee, I just don’t know what to do with this $36K burning a whole in my expensive pants pocket” department, comes this costly bauble: a diamond-studded mushroom charm that houses a 32 gigabyte flash drive.  The designer claims the look was “inspired by the classic novel Alice in Wonderland.”  We couldn’t make this stuff up.  But someone did–and they’re selling it.  To see for yourself, or if you’re looking for a last-minute Mother’s Day gift for that special someone, click here.

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Historic Hotels Claiming a Carrollian Connection

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This site, Nights in the Past, bills itself as “the online guide to historic hotels and accommodation in the UK, Europe and USA.” It lists two establishments claiming associations with our Mr. Dodgson: The Old Deanery in Ripon, Yorkshire, and The Ravensworth Arms in Lamesley.  The first claim is slight (Mr. Dodgon’s father was appointed Canon of Ripon Cathedral at one point, before moving up again shortly thereafter to Archdeacon at Richmond).   As to the Ravensworth Arms, it’s true that Alice Liddell’s father was descended from the Barony of Ravensworth, but there the connections with Mr. Dodgson begin and end as far as we know.  The latter claim, judging by the advertising copy on the Ravensworth Arms’ web site, is based entirely on anonymous “suggestions” that Mr. Dodgson stayed there and even wrote some of a certain book there.  We can only suggest that such claims might well be considered nonsense (and not of the good kind).  Someone should make a list of all the different places claiming that Mr. Dodgson “might have written” some or all of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland on their premises.  Impenetrability!

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“In Wonderland” Kickstarter Project

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At our recent Winston-Salem meeting, we heard briefly from Ms. Amber Adams, a choreographer and dancer hoping to raise funds to finance a physical theatre program based on “Alice in Wonderland” in Wilmington, NC. As always, we make no comment or endorsement of anything we post per se; we just like to keep you informed!

You can read about it by clicking here.

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