The story of Wonderland was first told in a small boat on the river Thames. The date was the fourth of July, 1862, and the narrator was the Reverend C. L. Dodgson, who was later to become a famous author under the pen name of Lewis Carroll. The Reverend Dodgson's listeners were the three small daughters of Canon Liddell of Christ Church, Oxford.

In her Introduction, May Lamberton Becker says, "On this sun-soaked, river-cool, tree-shaded day the three little girls listened to the story of a little girl who went down a rabbit hole and had wonderful adventures under the ground.... Drifting in the little boat, with the scent of sweet rushes in the air and the soft sound of water lapping round them, the children listened en- chanted. The enchantment has not faded in all these years." Mrs. Becker goes on to say, "Alice was followed six years later by a second part, Through the Looking-Glass, which carries her to another country and more adventures. You will soon find that it is about a game of chess, just as the first part was about a pack Of cards."

For this edition, the original illustrations by John Tenniel have been retained. Tenniel fixed once and for all the appearances of the delightful characters in the stories. As Mrs. Becker remarks, "Lewis Carroll and Sir John Tenniel belong together."
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