Evening Post. SATURDAY, MAY 26, 1928. IN WONDERLAND AGAIN

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 123, 26 May 1928, Page 8

Evening Post. SATURDAY, MAY 26, 1928. IN WONDERLAND AGAIN

"Oh, I've had such a curious dream!" !said Alice when she woke after her visit to Wonderland to tell her sister of those-strange Adventures which for more than sixty years have been a source of unfailing delight to children and grown-ups alike, and are still as fresh as ever. Yet after the lapse of all these years none of those Adventures of her childhood may appear either to Alice herself or to many of her friends more surprising than that which has befallen her in her old age. Nothing perhaps in "Alice' in "Wonderland," said "The Times" of tho 4th April, .was move wonderful than tho sale of tho original MS. at Sotheby's yesterday. „ The sale of such a treasure had of course been well advertised, and had attracted a. large and distinguished assemblage; ,- According to "The Times" report— ■ Although the sale did hot come on till about 2.30, from tho beginning of tho salo Sotheby's largo'room, was well filled, and by soon after 2 it was densely crowded. ■ ■ ■ . The great London firms of Quaritch and Maggs were of course ■ represented. / The British Museum was represented, though apparently not as a bidder, by Sir Frederic Kenyon and Mr. Gilson. There had been much cabling from American "prospects," as they are called on. that side of the Atlantic, but how many of them were represented we are not told. The auctioneer held a commission from one of the most formidable vof them—Mr. Gabriel Wells, of New York. Another, the still more famous Dr. Rosenbach, of Philadelphia, considered the occasion justified his attendance in person. But of far more thrilling interest than any of these protagonists in the arena was the presence of Alice herself, a passive but not disinterested spectator. ■ Tho .owner of tho MS., says "The Times,"'the "Alico" of tho famous book, Mrs. Alico P. Hargreiivcs, with some friends, found « seat behind the rostrum, ' We are also indebted to "The Times" for the.following description of the lot which was to beat all English "records":—Briefly put, this original MS. of "Alico's Adventures in Wonderland" consists of, 92 pages, 7|in by 4Jin, each page containing about 240 words, writton between July, 1862, and February, 18G3, and with illuminated title and dedication and 37 pen-and-ink illustrations- by the author, the Rev. C. L. Hodgson ' ("Lewis Carroll"), with a photograph .of "Alice" taken by tho author pasted at'the'foot'of the last page. With the MS. is a series of six autograph letters from, the author to Mrs. Hargreaves in 1885 in connection with a facsimile of the MS. mado and published at that time. The initial date is fixed with precision by an entry in the writer's diary, in explanation of which it may be said that he was a don of Christ Church, Oxford, and that the "three Liddells," of whom Alice was one,! were the daughters of the Dean:— July 4, 1862.—1 made an expedition up the river to Godstow with the threo Liddells; we had tea on the bank there, and did not reach Christ Church till half-past eight. . A later entry on the opposite page of the diary is as follows:—On which occasion I told thorn' the iairy-talo of "Alice's Adventures Underground," which *I undertook to ■ write out for Alice. These circumstances invest with a vivid meaning the prefatory verses which probably most of us have been accustomed to skip:—All in tho golden afternoon ■ Full leisurely we glide;. For both our oars, with little, "skill, By little arms are plied, - v Whilo little hands make vain pretenco Our wanderings to guide. Ah! cruel Three! In. such an hour, Beneath such dreamy weather, To beg a tale of breath |oo weak To stir tho tiniest" feather t', Yet what can one poor voice avail Against threo tongues together? Thus grew tho tale of Wonderland Thus slowly, one by one, Its quaint oyents were hammered out— And now tho talo is done, And home wo steer, a merry crew, Beneath the sotting sun. ~ In passing we may note that the'first presentation' copy of a book which had its origin on the 4th July, 1862, was in Alice's hands on the 4th July, 1365—a double omen of, the American destination of the original MS! Speculation about the price had, "The Times" tells us, been rife during the last few weeks before the sale. At first £5000 was regarded as tho maximum, but the amount was •doubled as the day < drew near, and it is' interesting to read that the bid-1 ding actually began at the very sum' which had been considered to be the' limit a few weeks previously:— Tho iusi bid of £5000 wa3 made b~ Mr. A. Myers, and various others joined in until at £.10,000 Mr. Maggs entered the competition; Mr. Bring, of Quaritch's, dropped out at £12,500, whon "Or. Bosonbach and Mr. Maggs were tho two rivals'up-to about £14,500, whon Dr. Rosenbach was bidding against tho

auctioneer, whoso commission stopped at £15,200. At£15,400 Dr. Roscnbaeh was declared,, the purchaser, tlio auctioneer announcing on his behalf that ho would hold tho MS. at the disposition of tho British nation at the price ho paid for it. "The Times" is able to add that the under/bidder was Mr. Gabriel Wells, of New York, who a few days previously had authorised a friend to go up to £12,700, but on the very day before the sale had enlarged the authority to £15,200 "against anyone except the nation." "If I secure Alice will arrange for nation getting it," Mr. Wells added. Quaritch's representative took up the same attitude. Three of the principal competitors, two of whom were Americans, were thus prepared to stand by in favour of the nation. Dr. Rosenbach even went so far as to offer to head a national subscription list with a contribution of 500 guineas. In view of such sportsmanship and generosity, it is grievous to learn from the "Nation" that some English critics were'so entirely lacking in both these qualities as to sneer at the offer. • , ■Referring to Dr. Rosenbach's offer, "The Times" said that "it now remains to be seen what the nation is going to do about it." We are glad to see that the nation has decided to do nothing.- Though the British Museum had other offers amounting to about £2000 towards the purchase, the trustees were surely wise not to make the attempt. It would have been an unpardonable extravagance, on the part of trustees for a national institution which in these days is, like the, Bodleian, .chronically hard up. As the "Nation" says, "one could only gape' in amazement that so comparatively recent a manuscript should fetch so vast a sum." It is indeed ridiculous that a document of no historical interest and, though of great, yet not of supreme literary interest should have fetched the price of several" First Folios and £300 more than the: £15,1Q0 paid.at.the Britwell sale in December, 191,9, for a small Shakespeare volume, which.was the previous British record. Such an outrage upon common sense suggests that neither the/3rd April nor the 4th July but the Ist April would have been the right day for the sale, and the conscience of some American millionaire—for Dr. Rosenr/ach will of course pass his bargain on—will be bel'ler able to bear !it than that of the British nation. If the conscience of the nation is clear, so also is that of the Jate owner. Why should "Alice" have held on to her treasure any .longer, or failed to get the best price that was obtainable? It is strange to reflect that, if we may reckon interest at. 6£ per cent., she has been paying at the rale of £1000 a year for the possession of a MS. which was of no use to read, which she probably has not looked at once a year except for dusting or showing to a visitor, and which, if she had" known its value, would have been the source of constant anxiety. She will now get better value for her money.'