THE BIG SIX #3: ALICE IN WONDERLAND

1899 edition published by Gilbert H. McKibbin; University of British Columbia Library, Special Collections Division.

Symbolism and satire unmask the Victorian Age, not to mention our own, while seven-year-old Alice tries to find logic in a bizarre world of no reason. Alice's creator, Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), lectured in mathematics at Christ Church, Oxford, and lived from 1832 to 1898. Published on July 4, 1865, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland tells the story of a girl who falls down a rabbit-hole into a realm populated by talking playing cards and other anthropomorphic creatures. Alice was a publishing sensation, loved by children and adults, including a young Oscar Wilde and Queen Victoria.