Alice in Wonderland interesting facts. Some interesting facts about Alice in Wonderland
On August 2, 1865, Macmillan published the first edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
SmartNews decided to choose the 5 most interesting facts related to this famous fairy tale.
hatter
There is a character in the tale called the Hatter or the Mad Hatter. The name Mad Hatter owes its origin to the English proverb "mad as a hatter". The appearance of such a proverb is due to the fact that in the 19th century, craftsmen who made hats often suffered from excitability, impaired speech, and trembling hands. The health disorder of the hatters was caused by chronic mercury poisoning. A solution of mercury was used to process hat felt. As you know, toxic mercury vapor affects the central nervous system.
Cheshire Cat
The Cheshire Cat was not in the original version of the tale. This character was added to the tale in 1865. Mysterious smile The Cheshire Cat is explained by some with the then-popular saying "smiles like a Cheshire cat". Some researchers believe that the famous Cheshire cheese was given the appearance of a smiling cat. According to another version, Carroll was inspired to come up with this character by a sandstone cat figure, which was installed near the church of St. Wilfrid in the village of Grappenhall.
Dormouse Mouse
The character of the Dormouse Mouse in the book "Alice in Wonderland" was periodically in the teapot. This can be explained by the fact that children at that time kept dormouse as pets in teapots. The kettles were filled with grass and hay.
Turtle Quasi
The Quasi Turtle character in Lewis Carroll's book often cries. This is due to the fact that sea turtles tears often appear. They help turtles remove salt from the body.
Released in 1856, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was a success. In the story, the author fascinatingly combines the meaninglessness in children's literature.
Below are a few facts you may not have known about Alice and its author, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll).
1 The Real Alice Was The Daughter Of Executive Carroll
The real Alice, who lent her name to the story, was the daughter of Henry Liddell - Dean Sunday school at the college (Oxford), it was there that Lewis Carroll worked as a teacher of mathematics. Everyone who worked at the school lived on campus. IN currently there is an exhibition dedicated to "Alice" and her heroes.
It was here that Carroll met the sisters the real Alice and got to know her whole family.
2. The Mad Hatter might not exist at all without the persistence of children.
When Carroll began to tell fantasy tale for the Liddell sisters in the summer of 1862, taking a walk along the Thames, he did not even think of being a writer for children. Little girls all the time demanded to continue interesting history, so the author began to write "Adventures" in a diary, which, in the end, turned into a written novel. Such a gift was presented by Carroll to Alice for Christmas in 1864. By 1865 he had self-published final version"Alice's Adventures", doubled in length - added new scenes, including the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat.
3. The illustrator hated the first edition
Carroll approached renowned English illustrator John Tenniel to create drawings for the story. When the author saw the first copy of the book, he was very indignant at how poorly the illustrator reflected his intentions. Carroll tried to buy up the entire print run with his small salary, so that he could then reprint it. However, Alice sold out quickly and was an instant success. Also, the book was released in limited edition in America.
4. Alice in Wonderland was first filmed in 1903
Some time after Carroll's death, directors Cecil Hepworth and Percy Stowe decided to turn the story into a 12-minute movie. At the time, it became the longest film made in the UK. Hepworth played the Frog Footman himself in the film, while his wife became the White Rabbit and the Queen.
5. Carroll almost titled the story "Alice's Clock in Elvengard"
Riding down the Thames for the afternoon, Carroll decided to write a sequel to the story of Alice for the Liddell sisters. He came up with several titles for his story. original text fairy tale, presented by 10-year-old Liddell, was called Alice's Adventures Underground. However, since its publication, Carroll has decided that he can call it "Alice's Clock in Elvengard". There have also been thoughts of calling the story "Alice Among the Fairies". However, he settled on the "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" option.
6. Ridicule of newfangled mathematical theories
Scientists have suggested that Carroll in his story ridiculed mathematical theories, innovative for the 19th century, in general, as well as imaginary numbers. For example, the riddles that the Mad Hatter asked Alice were a reflection of the increasing abstraction that was taking place in mathematics in the 19th century. This assumption was put forward by mathematician Keith Devlin in 2010. Carroll was very conservative; he found the new forms in mathematics that came out in the mid-1800s to be absurd compared to algebra and Euclidean geometry.
7. The original illustrations were carved into wood
Tenniel was famous illustrator by that time, it was he who took on Alice in Wonderland. He was also known for his political cartoons. His drawings were originally printed on paper, then carved on wood, then became metal reproductions. They were used in the printing process.
8. Miracles didn't seem so absurd to the real Alice.
Some things that seem like some kind of nonsense to us had certain meaning for the Liddell sisters. Remember, Turtle says in the book that he gets drawing lessons, sketching and "fainting rolls" from an old sea eel who comes once a week. The sisters probably saw in him their own tutor, who gave the girls lessons in drawing, drawing and oil painting. Most of the nonsense from the book, as well as the characters, have real prototypes and stories.
9. Dodo bird - the prototype of Carroll
In the book, Carroll repeatedly alludes to a tour of the Thames with the girls, which inspired him to create this masterpiece. Perhaps the Dodo bird became the prototype of Lewis himself, whose real name is Charles Dodgson. According to one version, the author suffered from stuttering. Perhaps this is what prevented him from becoming a priest, directing his fate into a mathematical direction.
10. The original manuscript almost never leaves London.
The original illustrated manuscript, titled Alice's Underground Adventures, was given by Carroll to Alice Liddell. Now the book is an exhibit of the British Library, very rarely leaves the country.
11. Alice's Adventures is a kind of pioneer in the field of licensing
Carroll was an experienced marketer of his story and characters. This is perhaps the main reason why the story is so famous today, even for those who have not read the book. He developed postage stamp with images of Alice, these pictures decorate cookie cutters and other products.
For readers wishing to learn more about the origins of the book, he has produced a facsimile of the original manuscript. He later created an abridged version of the book for even the youngest readers.
12. The book has not been published for a long time - this is a fact
The work has been translated into 176 languages. All parts of the book were sold out within seven weeks of publication.
On July 4, 1865, the first edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published.
Alice in Wonderland is probably one of the most famous works in the world. Meanwhile at main character the story was quite real prototype, Alice Liddell. Telling her stories, Lewis Carroll wrote his own famous work.
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The real Alice from Wonderland, photograph by Lewis Carroll, England, 1862
Alice Liddell lived a long and happy life. At the age of 28, she married Reginald Hargreaves, professional player cricket for Hampshire, had three sons. Unfortunately, both of the elders - Alan Niveton Hargreaves and Leopold Reginald "Rex" Hargreaves - died in the First World War. Alice died at her home in Westerham in 1934, at the age of 82.
The story was originally titled Alice's Underground Adventures, and a handwritten copy given to Alice by Lewis Carroll was sold by her for £15,400 to Eldridge R. Johnson, co-founder of the Victor Talking Machine Company, in 1926.
Adult Alice from the Looking Glass.
After Johnson's death, the book was purchased by a consortium of American bibliophiles. Today the manuscript is kept in the British Library.
Alice Liddell, photograph by an unknown photographer.
Alice was 80 years old when, while on a visit to the US, she met Peter Llewellyn Davis, the one who inspired J. M. Barry's famous work "Peter Pan".
Alice Liddell Hargreaves Pleasence in old age, 1932
The minor planet 17670 Liddell is named after Alice Liddell.
Last page of L. Carroll's original manuscript of Alice's Underground Adventures.
A few more rare original photographs the real Alice from Wonderland.
Alice Liddell (right) with her sisters, photograph by Lewis Carroll, 1859
Exactly 155 years ago - July 4, 1862 - during a picnic, Charles Dodgson took a walk with three Liddell girls. At that time, an unknown mathematics teacher told them a story about the adventures of a little girl who ran after a rabbit to Wonderland. One of Dean Liddell's daughters, 10-year-old Alice, insisted that he write down the whole story. Dodgson followed the advice and, under the name of Lewis Carroll, wrote the book Alice in Wonderland. So a wonderful fairy tale was born, on which not a single generation of children grew up.
Here are some interesting facts about the famous book.
Its first edition was completely destroyed, because. the author was not very pleased with it. By the way, many of the characters loved by everyone were not originally in Alice. One of these is the Cheshire Cat. The working title of the piece was Alice's Underground Adventures.
The story of adventures about Alice during the life of Lewis Carroll brought him incredible popularity. The book has been filmed over 40 times. In addition, several computer games have been created based on the fairy tale.
The book has been translated into 125 languages of the world. And it wasn't that easy. The thing is that if you translate the fairy tale literally, then all the humor and all its charm disappears - there are too many puns and witticisms based on the features in it. in English. Therefore, the greatest success was not the translation of the book, but the retelling of Boris Zakhoder. In total, there are about 13 options for translating a fairy tale into Russian. Moreover, in the first version, created by an anonymous translator, the book was called "Sonya in the Kingdom of the Diva." The next translation appeared almost 30 years later, and the cover read "Ani's Adventures in the World of Wonders." And Boris Zakhoder admitted that he considered the name “Alice in Wonderland” to be more appropriate, but decided that the public would not appreciate such a title.
The prototype of the book Alice was Alice Liddell, with whose family Carroll talked. This fact is indicated on her memorial plaque. She lived a long and happy life. At the age of 28, she married a professional Hampshire cricketer and had three sons. Unfortunately, both eldest sons died in the First World War. Alice died at the age of 82.
On August 2, 148 years ago, the wonderful book "Alice in Wonderland" was published. A fairy tale about the travels of the girl Alice in amazing country written by the English mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. We have collected interesting facts about this book.
In what images did not imagine the heroes of modern fairy tales
Lewis Carroll is nothing more than pseudonym. Charles Dodgson did his best to distance himself from his alter ego, sending back letters from Alice fans marked "addressee unknown." But the fact remains: the Alice's travels he created brought him much more popularity than all his scientific works.
1. Lost in translation
The book has been translated into 125 languages of the world. And it wasn't that easy. The thing is that if you translate the fairy tale literally, then all the humor and all its charm disappears - there are too many puns and witticisms based on the peculiarities of the English language. Therefore, the greatest success was not the translation of the book, but the retelling of Boris Zakhoder. In total, there are about 13 options for translating a fairy tale into Russian. Moreover, in the first version, created by an anonymous translator, the book was called "Sonya in the Kingdom of the Diva." The next translation appeared almost 30 years later, and the cover read "Ani's Adventures in the World of Wonders." And Boris Zakhoder admitted that he considered the name “Alice in Wonderland” to be more appropriate, but decided that the public would not appreciate such a title.
Alice in Wonderland has been filmed 40 times, including animated versions. Alice even appeared in the Muppets show - where Brooke Shields played the role of a girl.
2. The Mad Hatter was not in the first edition of the book.
Yes, don't be surprised. The tactless, absent-minded, eccentric and extravagant Hatter, so brilliantly played by Johnny Depp, did not appear in the first version of the tale. By the way, in the translation by Nina Demiurova, recognized as the best of all existing ones, the character's name is Hatter. The fact is that in English hatter meant not only “hatter”, as they called people who do everything wrong. Therefore, we decided that our fools would be the closest analogue in Russian. So the Hatter became the Hatter. By the way, his name and character originated from English saying"Crazy as a hatter." At that time, it was believed that workers who create hats could go crazy due to exposure to mercury vapor, which was used to process felt.
By the way, the Hatter was not the only character who was not in the original version of Alice. The Cheshire cat also appeared later.
3. "Alice" was illustrated by Salvador Dali himself
In fact, if we talk about illustrations, it is easier to name those who in their work bypassed the motives of "Alice". The most famous are the drawings of John Tenniel, who created 42 black and white for the first publication of the book. Moreover, each drawing was discussed with the author.
Fernando Falcon's illustrations leave an ambiguous impression - seemingly cute and childish, but it seems to be like a nightmare.
Jim Minji created illustrations in the best traditions of Japanese anime, Erin Taylor drew an African-style tea party.
And Elena Kalis illustrated Alice's adventures in photographs, transferring the events to the underwater world.
Salvador Dali painted 13 watercolors for different situations from book. Probably, his drawings are not the most childish and not even the most understandable for an adult, but they are delightful.
Cheshire cat - this is how the great Salvador Dali saw him
5. A mental disorder was named after Alice
Well, this is just not surprising. The whole Wonderland is a world of absurdity. Some vicious critics even called everything that happened in the book nonsense. However, we will ignore the attacks of too mundane personalities, alien to fantasy and devoid of imagination, and turn to the facts from the field of medicine. And the facts are: among mental disorders a person has micropsia - a state when a person perceives objects and objects proportionally reduced. Or enlarged. Remember how Alice grew and then decreased? So here. A person with Alice in Wonderland syndrome can see an ordinary doorknob as if it were the size of the door itself. But much more often people perceive objects as if from afar. What is most terrible, a person in this state does not understand what really exists, and what only seems to him.
People suffering from Alice syndrome are not able to understand where is reality and where is a hallucination.
5. Film Reflection
There are references to the work of Lewis Carroll in many books and films. One of the most famous implicit quotes is the phrase "Follow the white rabbit" in the science fiction action movie The Matrix. A little later in the film, another allusion pops up: Morpheus offers Neo two pills to choose from. By choosing the right one, Keanu Reeves' character learns "how deep this rabbit hole". And on the face of Morpheus there is a smile of the Cheshire cat. In "Resident Evil" there is a whole bunch of analogies, ranging from the name of the main character - Alice, to the name of the central computer - "Red Queen". The action of the virus and antivirus was tested on a white rabbit, and to get into the corporation, one had to go through a mirror. And even in the horror movie "Freddie vs. Jason" there was a place for Carroll's heroes. One of the victims in the film sees Freddy Krueger as a caterpillar with a hookah. Well, we, the readers, use from the book in our daily speech. It's getting weirder and weirder, weirder and weirder, right?
