Alice 150 Years and Counting…The Legacy of Lewis Carroll celebrates March Madness in true Wonderland-fashion!
Visit the Alice 150 exhibit in Hornbake Library and you will discover the books in our Alice Illustrated Around the World cases have magically turned to showcase illustrations from the Mad Tea Party for the month of March. See the Hatter, March Hare, and the Dormouse infuriate and confound a curious Alice when she stumbles into their never-ending tea party in Wonderland. Since John Tenniel’s original illustrations appeared in 1865, artists from around the world have applied their unique style to this infamous scene. Explore the exhibit to find your favorite!
Did You Know
- The March Hare is the host of the Mad Tea Party. In many illustrations, you can see his house in the background, complete with rabbit ear chimneys.
- The Mad Tea Party did not originally appear in Lewis Carroll’s manuscript Alice’s Adventures Underground. The chapter was added later to the story.
- As for the Hatter’s famous riddle, “Why is a raven like a writing desk?”, Carroll wrote:
Enquiries have been so often addressed to me, as to whether any answer to the Hatter’s Riddle can be imagined, that I may as well put on record here what seems to be to be fairly appropriate answer, viz: “Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat; and it is nevar put with the wrong end in front!” This however, is merely an afterthought; the Riddle, as originally invented, had no answer at all.
Can’t get enough madness? Visit the online exhibit to explore more Alice in Wonderland illustrations from around the world.