'Lewis Carroll ought now to taking his place among the novelists' , wrote Kathleen Tillotson twenty-one years ago. Alice 's Adventures in Wonderland and Through' the Looking-Glass need no introduction: the double Alice is among the best-known, most frequently quoted books in the English language, and has translated into almost as many foreign tongues as has the Bible; in its own branch of the art of fiction it stands supreme. It is the most outstanding among that small group Of children's books which adults continue to read throughout life — and often enjoy more than the audience for whom they were originally intended.

This edition, originally prepared for the Oxford English Novels series, reprints the text from the edition reviseKl by Dodgson a couple of years before his death, but all important variations from earlier editions are fully noted. A such as Alice needs few notes to illustrate its meaning, and not many to explain obscure references; such as seem necessary, and many more that may interest readers anxious to know about its background and development, are supplied by the editor, Roger Lancelyn Green, who has studied Lewis Carroll's life and works for many years, written several books about him, edited his Diaries, and is at present assisting in the reparation of the first commemorative edition of his Letters.
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