Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Carroll, Lewis [Rev. Charles Dodgson], Illustrator: John Tenniel - 1866

New York: D. Appleton & Co, 1866. First Edition, Second Issue. Hardcover. Very Good. From the sheets of the true first English (suppressed) edition of 1865 and preceding the 1866 (second) English edition; that is to say: the second issue of the first edition-first printing, and the absolute earliest edition of this towering work of 19th century imagination that can still be had. [xii] 192 pp. 192 mm. Octavo. Hardcover. Original publisher's full red cloth over boards, gilt titles and decorations to spine and both covers. All edges gilt. Triple-filleted borders stamped in gilt. Pictorial centerpieces stamped in gilt to covers. Spine lettered in gilt, with publisher's name at the foot. Navy endpapers. Book Condition: as copies of the 1866 Appleton Alice go, a very pretty example. Professionally restored according to strict conservation standards, including a complete resewing and rebacking with original spine sympathetically and almost invisibly laid in and replacement of missing frontispiece with a matching candidate from a later printing (tissue guard and all other elements original). Original red cloth covers show some wear, stains, gilt dulled in places etc. but altogether a lovely presentation. Text block condition: title page with extreme upper corner of page (less than 1mm) missing, the first 20 pages or so show same miniscule size bent corners. Closed tear to page 91 (92 is the verso) just at the bottom two lines of text on the page; 2.5 inches in length from the page edge slanting downward into the page. Pages are otherwise bright, unmarked and free of flaws. Prior owners inscription to front pastedown in very faint lettering: "Mfs. Mary Allricks with C. P. Greenough's regards. Balt. 1868." This is almost certainly the great collector of letters of Daniel Webster credited multiple times in "The Letters of Daniel Webster" published in 1902. Altogether a very handsome copy that feelsl strong and supple enough to comfortably take this copy down from the shelf and read it to a 21st century Alice at bedtime perhaps. Housed in a archival clamshell quarter leather box created for this exact copy. A lovely copy all in all. NOTE: This copy of the 1866 Appleton Alice is variant 1 of 2 for the cancel title page (the "b" in By is directly over the "j" in John (Tenniel) directly below; and variant "B" for the last verse of the opening poem ("Alice! a" vs. "Alice! A") and the table of contents: "RABBIT-HOLE" vs. "RABBIT HOLE" with the page numbers 29 and 59 showing ovoid numeral 9's and 95 showing round numeral 9. No priority is assigned to any of the variants.