The first Australian illustrated edition 1924

1. Introduction

The first version of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (1865) to be illustrated by an Australian artist was the Whitcombe's Story Book edition published in New Zealand and Australia in numerous editions between 1924 and 1960. The illustrator was a young, talented Melbournean, Christian Yandell, whose Pre-Raphaelite line drawings were a distinctive feature of the book. This edition of Carroll's famous Wonderland fantasy adventure is rare, and for a number of reasons. Firstly, by their very nature school readers are ephemeral, with a short and tough life. They were generally printed in large numbers on low quality paper with stapled bindings and used by primary and secondary school students until the point of destruction. Very rarely did a school reader find a home in a library or archive, and likewise they were not readily available for purchase through normal bookstores. This helps explain the fact that there is no known copy in a public collection of an original 1924 edition of the Whitcombe Alice, or of the second 1925 edition. Many of the extant copies show signs of usage in the classroom and wear such as ink blots, pencil, paint and colour marks, and torn pages or loose bindings. This blogs outlines some of the history of the edition, with information primarily gleaned from Ian F. McLean's 1984 bibliographic survey of the Whitcombe Story Books series, along with various rare book websites and library catalogue entries. McLean had access to original records from the Whitcombe & Tombs archive in compiling his list. A detailed discussion of the Christian Yandell illustrations is to be found in Organ (2015). The book is also referred to in a survey of Australian editions of Alice in Wonderland (Organ 2013).

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2. Bibliographic Description

Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland, Whitcombe's Story Book No.415, Whitcombe & Tombes, Christchurch, 1924, 64p (68p). Illustrated front cover by the Carlton Studio and throughout the text by Christian Yandell. The book was edited by E.A. Stewart who received a fee of £4.4.0 on 6 July 1923. No information is available in regards to the figure paid to the illustrators. On the last page there is a "Note on the author" and in later editions also a quiz for students. The various editions include advertisements for other Whitcombe publications. Each edition is distinguished by a printer's job reference number on the final page, adjacent to the rear cover.

1st edition 1924

Issued on 13 August 1924 in an edition of 10,000 copies. Printer's job reference number: G40914. The item is also referenced in the New Zealand Education Gazette of 1 December 1924. No copies were sighted by McLean (1984). In 2015 a copy of what was purported to be an original edition (illustrated) was offered for sale on Doublequicktime. The front cover was similar to the 9th edition of 1960, however no reference to the printer's job number was given in the description. Wrappers: ?black and green on brick red. Pages: unknown. Price: no price.

2nd edition 1925

Issued on 24 July 1925 in an edition of 10,062 copies. Printer's job reference number: G43869. Wrappers: unknown. Pages: unknown. Price: unknown. The item is also referred to in the Victorian Education Gazette and Teachers Aid of 27 April 1926. No copies were sighted by McLean (1984).

3rd edition 1927

Issued on 22 April 1927 in an edition of 12,027 copies. Printer's job reference number: G47866. Wrappers: unknown. Price: unknown. Wrappers: black and orange on grey. Pages: 64p. Price: 5d. Advertisement for Whitcombe Story Books 533 and 634. Copy: South Australian College of Advanced Education.

4th edition 1930

Issued on 19 May 1930 in an edition of 7,562 copies. Printer's job reference number: D51591. Wrappers: brown and maroon on brick red. Pages: 68p. Price: 5d. Advertisement for Whitcombe Story Books 118, 337 and 634. Copy: George J. Griffith Collection, Dunedin, New Zealand.

4th edition 1930

5th edition 1935

Issued on 5 July 1935 in an edition of 7549 copies. Printer's job reference number: G703. Wrappers: black and purple on brick red. Pages: 68p. Price: 5d. Advertisement for Whitcombe Story Books 442, 550 and 650. Copy: Paul Aubin Collection, Dunedin, New Zealand.

6th edition 1940

Issued on 17 October 1940 in an edition of 7,524 copies. Printer's job reference number: G2028. Wrappers: green and red on brick red. Pages: 68p. Price: 5d. Advertisement for Whitcombe Story Books 332, 438 and 656. Copy: National Library of New Zealand; State Library of South Australia.

7th edition 1945

Issued on 22 February 1945 in an edition of 5,000 copies. Printer's job reference number: G3006. Wrappers: brown and green on brick red. Pages: 68p. Price: 6d. Advertisement for Whitcombe Story Books 340, 656 and 662. Copy: George J. Griffith Collection, Dunedin, New Zealand; New Zealand Council for Educational Research, Wellington; Deakin University.

8th edition 1948

Issued on 11 February 1948 in an edition of 10,047 copies. Printer's job reference number: G3537. Wrappers: brown and olive on brick red. Pages: 68p. Price: 9d. Advertisement for Whitcombe Story Book 441 on the back cover. Copy: Christchurch Teachers College; George J. Griffith Collection, Dunedin, New Zealand; Hugh Price Collection, Wellington; State Library of South Australia; University of Melbourne; National Library of New Zealand; National Library of Australia.

8th edition 1948

9th edition 1960

Issued on 8 February 1960 in an edition of 5,000 copies. Printer's job reference number: G4548. Wrappers: black and green on brick red. Pages: 68p. Price: no price. No advertisements. Copy: Christchurch Teachers College; George J. Griffith Collection, Dunedin, New Zealand; Paul Aubin Collection, Dunedin, New Zealand; State Library of South Australia; University of Melbourne; National Library of New Zealand; National Library of Australia.

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References

McLean, Ian F., Whitcombe's Story Books - A Trans-Tasman Survey, University of Melbourne Library, Parkville, 1984, 255p.

Organ, Michael, Alice in OZ - "Please, Ma'am, is this New Zealand? Or Australia?' - The Lewis Carroll Alice in Wonderland Books in Australia, Biblionews and Australian Notes and Queries: Journal of the Book Collectors' Society of Australia, 379, September 2013, 71-86.

------, Pre-Raphaelite Wonderland - Christian Yandell's Alice, Antipodes: A Global Journal of Australian and New Zealand Literature, June 2015.

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Last updated: 4 October 2024

Michael Organ, Australia

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Whitcombe's Alice in Wonderland

The first Australian illustrated edition 1924

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