Picturing Alice

On Thursday evening at the San Francisco Public Library, Mark Burstein, President of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America, gave a slide lecture surveying the various illustrators of Alice in Wonderland. I only think of the John Tenniel pictures when I think of Alice, but Mr. Burstein claimed that Alice in Wonderland is the most illustrated novel. He himself has a collection of over 230 Alice books illustrated by different artists. I had no idea that Mervyn Peake, Beatrix Potter & even Salvador Dali created pictures for the books. We learned that Lewis Carroll's own drawings of Alice were based on Annie Miller, who modelled for the Pre-Raphaelites. Mr. Burstein reminded us that Alice is supposed to be 7 years old, though almost no one shows her that age. Also, her dress should be yellow, not blue.

Mr. Burstein spoke for 45 minutes, pausing occasionally to update us on the Giants' scores. He amusingly referred to Tim Burton's Alice movie as "noisome." When someone asked Mr. Burstein about his favorite non-Tenniel illustrations, he answered that he is about to introduce his 7-year-old daughter to the books & that he will start her with the Tenniel.

§ Picturing Alice
Mark Burstein, President of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America
Thu, 10/25/2012, 6:30p
Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room A & B
Main Library