Alice in Wonderland notebook

Created to accompany the V&A’s 2021 exhibition Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser, the design for this notebook is adapted from one of John Tenniel’s original illustrations for the first edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, with a fun twist of added colour. Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland is a cultural phenomenon. First published in 1865, it has never been out of print and has been translated into 170 languages. A young girl named Alice sits bored by a riverbank, where she suddenly spots a White Rabbit with a pocket watch and waistcoat lamenting that he is late. The surprised Alice follows him down a rabbit hole, which sends her down a lengthy plummet but to a safe landing. Inside a room with a table, she finds a key to a tiny door, beyond which is a beautiful garden. As she ponders how to fit through the door, she discovers a bottle reading "Drink me". Alice hesitantly drinks a portion of the bottle's contents, and to her astonishment, she shrinks small enough to enter the door. However, she had left the key upon the table and is unable to reach it. Alice then discovers and eats a cake, which causes her to grow to a tremendous size.

 

Design adapted from illustration by John Tenniel (1820 – 1914) in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1832 – 98), first published edition 1866

© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

 

Created exclusively for the V&A.