Christ Church College and the Bodleian Libraries have received Lewis Carroll’s copy of the 1865 first edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The book, known as the ‘Michelson Alice’, is one of only 22 known surviving copies of the withdrawn first printing. The volume includes Carroll’s own handwritten annotations and ten original drawings by John Tenniel, the story’s first illustrator. It has never been exhibited in the UK before.
The first editions of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland were printed by Oxford University Press in 1865, including the copy that would become known as the Michelson Alice. However, Caroll quickly withdrew them when Tenniel expressed dissatisfaction with the poor printing quality of his illustrations. Carroll attempted to quickly recall the copies he had already given away, but a few escaped. An improved edition was then published later that year.
Lanisha Butterfield, Head of Communications at the Bodleian Libraries, told Cherwell that Carroll’s handwritten notes in the margins “reveal the author’s thinking” as he worked on The Nursery “Alice”, an abridged version of the novel intended for children of five and under. The marginalia offers Carroll scholars valuable insights into the author’s thought process.
According to a detailed Christie’s catalogue entry for this annotated 1865 issue, the book passed through a long chain of collectors and dealers. These included political activist Louis Samuel Montagu, the rare book dealer A.S.W. Rosenbach, and the American industrialist Eldridge R. Johnson. Later owners included Francis A. Kettaneh and the children’s book specialist Justin G. Schiller. The same entry records that the volume was exhibited from 1953 to 1954 at the Grolier Club in New York, a historic American bibliophiles’ organisation.
In its latest move, Christ Church and the Bodleian Libraries said they worked jointly to secure the book through a competitive process initiated by philanthropist Ellen A. Michelson, in which institutions were invited to make a case to receive the gift. Michelson, distinguished collector and member of the Grolier Club, chose to donate it jointly to Christ Church and the Bodleian so it would be preserved and made available for research and public appreciation, returning the book to what she described as “its spiritual home in Oxford”.
Butterfield told Cherwell: “The University is the rightful home of the manuscript and it will sit within our collections alongside the rest of Carroll’s archive.” The Reverend Professor Sarah Foot, Dean of Christ Church, described the acquisition as a ‘homecoming’, saying that: “following many years in the US, this edition is coming home to Christ Church and the Bodleian”. She added that Carroll “had a lifelong connection to Christ Church and its library, and would undoubtedly be pleased this historic copy, which contains his original thoughts and reflections, has ended up here” and that the College hopes the book will “inspire future generations of scholars and budding writers at Christ Church and beyond.”
The Michelson Alice will be on public display from Friday 16th January to Monday 19th January in Blackwell Hall at the Weston Library. It will then feature in the Bodleian Libraries’ exhibition Pets & their People beginning on 11th March, which will look at how some real life pets inspired Carroll’s animal characters, including the Cheshire Cat. Christ Church will also mark the book’s return in its own Upper Library exhibition,Beyond the Appliances of Art: Lewis Carroll and His Illustrators, from the 27th January to the 26th February 2026.
