Farewell Alice, Welcome Frederick Douglass!

Our exhibit Alice 150 Years and Counting…The Legacy of Lewis Carroll: Selections from the Collection of August and Clare Imholtz has officially closed in Hornbake Library. As we say goodbye to Alice, we look ahead to the next exhibit, Frederick Douglass & Wye House: Archaeology and African American Culture in Maryland. The exhibit will run from September 2016-July 2016. It explores the site of Frederick Douglass’ birthplace on the Eastern Shore, showcasing materials discovered during excavations, along with the testimony of descendants of former slaves at Wye House, providing insights into one of the greatest leaders and spokesman for human equality, Frederick Douglass.

Thank you to August and Clare Imholtz for the privilege of  exhibiting their fascinating collection of Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland items. And thanks to all the folks who visited the Alice exhibit in Hornbake Library and took part in our events and social media celebrating 150 years of Alice in Wonderland. If you are still curious to explore all things Lewis Carroll, be sure to visit the Alice 150 Years and Counting online exhibit.

Follow us for more updates on upcoming exhibits and events in Special Collections and University Archives. View the gallery below for a glimpse into the process of packing away the Alice 150 Years and Counting exhibit.

 

 

Spotlight on Wonderland: Alice

Are you the curious sort? Ever catch yourself daydreaming in class or at work, yearning for more excitement in your day? Then you may have found a kindred spirit in Alice!

Alice is the much-loved protagonist of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. She is headstrong, well-mannered, adventurous, intelligent, and imaginative. Her daydreaming leads her to follow a white rabbit with a pocket watch down the rabbit hole and into a vibrant world of talking mice, mad tea party guests, murderous royalty, and petulant insects.

Spotlight on Wonderland: The Queen of Hearts

Do you have a hot temper? When it comes to overreacting, the Queen of Hearts is, well…the Queen. Whether its because she is losing at croquet, doesn’t like white roses, or simply doesn’t want the Cheshire Cat hanging around, the solution is all the same – off with their heads!

Curator’s Pick: Favorite Item from the Alice 150 Exhibit

I haven’t counted, but I would guess that at least 10% of people who meet me ask if I play basketball. I haven’t. But when you are almost 6′ tall, that’s a fair question. 

It might seem surprising then that someone who cannot dribble to save her life might choose  Christopher Myer’s Jabberwocky, the Classic Poem from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There as her favorite item in the Alice 150 exhibit. But I have my reasons. Myers’ brilliant recreation Carroll’s most famous poem as a pick-up basketball game is visually engrossing and thought provoking and his striking illustrations pulse with energy. Myers uses his original illustrations in tandem with Carroll’s original poem to create a “Jabberwock” who is the towering king of an urban basketball court…up until now! The oversize, oddly shaped and multicolored font sprawls across the page in between large, fiery-eyed players who seem as if they are somehow inspired to repeat Carroll’s poem.

Encore of ‘Alice Goes to the Movies’

Hornbake Library is excited to announce a three-part film series- Alice Goes to the Movies. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see early Alice films and learn about how they were saved from the passage of time. David H. Schaefer, longtime Lewis Carroll collector and Alice film expert, will be sharing some of the highlights of his Alice film collection and discussing the process of restoring and digitizing them.

Join us on Thursday, May 5 from 4:30-6:00pm in Hornbake Library, Room 0302J for our final film night. Dr. Schaffer will be opening the film series with a brief introduction on Fort Lee New Jersey as the film capitol of the world.  Afterward, munch on popcorn as we enjoy the 1931 film Alice in Wonderland, directed by Bud Pollard. For some animated fun, we will also show the Mickey Mouse and Popeye shorts with an Alice in Wonderland theme.

‘Alice Goes to the Movies’ Returns!

Hornbake Library is excited to announce a three-part film series- Alice Goes to the Movies. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see early Alice films and learn about how they were saved from the passage of time. David H. Schaefer, longtime Lewis Carroll collector and Alice film expert, will be sharing some of the highlights of his Alice film collection and discussing the process of restoring and digitizing them.

Join us on April 21st from 4:30-6:00pm in Hornbake Library, Room 0302H for our second film night. Dr. Schaffer will be opening the film series with a brief introduction on the role of “non-theatrical” motion pictures in contributing to the popularity of the Alice stories.  Afterward, munch on popcorn as we watch the 1915 silent film Alice in Wonderland, directed by W.W. Young. The sequence from the 1930 classic Putin’ on the Ritz,  featuring Joan Bennett dancing through Wonderland, will also be shown.

Alice Goes to the Movies!

Almost everyone has seen Disney’s famous 1951 film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, and fans of Johnny Depp are sure to have seen him starring as the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s 2010 adaptation. But did you know that since 1903, over 35 films and television programs have reinterpreted Alice?

Hornbake Library is excited to announce a three-part film series- Alice Goes to the Movies. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see early Alice films and learn about how they were saved from the passage of time. David H. Schaefer, longtime Lewis Carroll collector and Alice film expert, will be sharing some of the highlights of his Alice film collection and discussing the process of restoring and digitizing them.

Curator Pick: Favorite Item from the Alice 150 Exhibit

How could I possibly choose one item out of so many amazing ones as my favorite?! Early on, I digitized the majority of the items that are in the exhibit, allowing me time to really look through every book as I scanned it. Needless to say, I have quite a few favorites! In order for me to dwindle my list down to one, I focused on one criteria: what was the book that made me completely stop what I was doing because it was so curious? For me, that is my lasting impression of Alice from my childhood, and why I still relate to Carroll’s story as an adult.  Alice’s curiosity, the curiosity of the characters and the world that is Wonderland continues to draw people back time and time again.

My favorite would have to be Alitjinya ngura Tjukurtjarangka [Alitji in the Dreamtime], illustrated by Byron W. Sewell. I was incredibly surprised when I first picked it up to find the White Rabbit was a kangaroo!

 

This was definitely one the cleverest re-imaginings of the Alice characters that I had encountered and stood on its own as a story that illustrated Wonderland in a different culture so well. Sewell’s illustrations are at once similar and arrestingly different than the traditional Alice. His characters are often ethereal, but when he does have them grounded, he depicts the earth with geometric patterns.

Note how realistic Alice looks, but how drastically altered the rest of the characters are depicted.

This is also a bilingual edition, translated into Pitjantjatjara and adapted into Australian English. I enjoy editions with this added factor because it reaches a whole new audience and easily teaches them a little something that could lead to something more. This item is the epitome of what this exhibit aims to represent and why I always include it as an example when I’m describing the exhibit to others.

Honorable mentions [this was inevitable!]:
1. Sakuba‘s intense and instantly classic characters:

2. Rackham‘s muted color scheme and Wonderlandians’ long, spindly features:

3. Kállay‘s warm colors and delightful tea party:

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For your listening enjoyment:

Explore this item and more works by Lewis Carroll in our Alice 150 Years and Counting exhibit, now open to the public in Hornbake Library at the University of Maryland.

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Brin Winterbottom is a graduate student at the University of Maryland iSchool. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. She currently works in Hornbake’s Digital Conversion Media Reformatting Center and is conducting her field study with the Alice exhibit team. 

The Mouse’s Tale

What better way to celebrate National Poetry Day then with the ‘Mouse’s Tale’ by Lewis Carroll! The Mouse tells Alice and the other caucus race creatures his “long and sad tale” in chapter 3 – A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale of Alice Adventures in Wonderland.

The Mouse’s tale is an example of concrete poetry,  printed so that the words form the shape of the mouse’s tail. It is a wonderful example of Carroll’s wit and humor. As the Mouse tells his tale, Alice imagines the ‘tale’ as his ‘tail’, giving readers a glimpse into her imaginative personality. Illustrators and typographers have continued Carroll’s tradition, resulting in new shapes and interpretations of Carroll’s creative poem.

Alice is Open!

#WaitingForAliceUMD no longer! It’s finally arrived!

Come celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland  with our exhibition: Alice 150 Years and Counting…The Legacy of Lewis Carroll: Selections from the Collection of August and Clare Imholtz.

The exhibit is open:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday:  10 a.m.- 5 p.m.

Wednesday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Sunday: 1 p.m. – 6 p.m.

More hours and directions available here.

Read more or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram @HornbakeLibrary #AliceUMD #Alice150 #Terps #AliceinWonderland