Exactly 155 years ago - July 4, 1862 - during a picnic, Charles Dodgson took a walk with three Liddell girls. Then an unknown mathematics teacher told them a story about the adventures of a little girl who ran after a rabbit to Wonderland. One of Dean Liddell's daughters, 10-year-old Alice, began to insist that he write down the whole story. Dodgson followed the advice and wrote the book Alice in Wonderland under the name of Lewis Carroll. Thus was born a wonderful fairy tale, on which not a single generation of children grew up.
Here are some interesting facts about the famous book.
Its first edition was completely destroyed, because... the author was not very pleased with her. By the way, many well-loved characters were not originally in “Alice”. One of these is the Cheshire Cat. The working title of the work was “Alice's Adventures Underground.”
The story of Alice's adventures brought him incredible popularity during Lewis Carroll's lifetime. The book has been filmed more than 40 times. In addition, several computer games have been created based on the fairy tale.
The book has been translated into 125 languages of the world. And it wasn't that easy. The thing is that if you translate the fairy tale literally, then all the humor and all its charm disappear - there are too many puns and witticisms based on the peculiarities of in English. Therefore, the greatest success was not the translation of the book, but the retelling of Boris Zakhoder. In total, there are about 13 options for translating the fairy tale into Russian. Moreover, in the first version, created by an anonymous translator, the book was called “Sonya in the Kingdom of the Diva.” The next translation appeared almost 30 years later, and the cover read “Anya’s Adventures in the World of Wonders.” And Boris Zakhoder admitted that he considered the name “Aliska in Wonderland” to be more appropriate, but decided that the public would not appreciate such a title.
The prototype of the book Alice was Alice Liddell, with whose family Carroll communicated. This fact is indicated on her memorial plaque. She lived a long and happy life. At the age of 28 she married professional player cricket for Hampshire and gave birth to three sons. Unfortunately, both eldest sons died in the First World War. Alice died at the age of 82.
Greg Hildenbrandt © kinopoisk.ru
Today, July 4th , Book lovers around the world are celebrating the birthday of the legendary adventure story "Alice in Wonderland." On this day, more than 150 years ago, the first edition of Lewis Carroll's legendary book was printed and presented at the British publishing house Macmillan. This fairy tale story has become a real legend, a favorite book of millions of readers. We invite you to learn interesting facts about your favorite book, as well as remember catchphrases.
Lewis Carroll © vk.com
The tale of the girl Alice's travels amazing Country miracles was written by the English mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. In 1862, during a picnic, Charles began to tell a fictitious fairy tale to Alice Liddell, the daughter of the dean of Christ Church College in Oxford, where Carroll taught mathematics. The ten-year-old girl was so carried away by the fairy tale that she began to persuade the narrator to write down the story. Dodgson followed the advice and, under the name of Lewis Carroll, wrote the book “Alice in Wonderland,” which was published exactly three years after the fateful picnic. She was destined to become one of the most popular books of all times, which has been captivated by both adults and children for many years.
The book "Alice in Wonderland" has been translated into 125 languages. But the translators had to work hard on the text. The fact is that if you translate the fairy tale literally, then all the humor and all the charm created by the author disappears. The original version contains a lot of puns and witticisms based on the peculiarities of the English language.
"Alice in Wonderland" has been filmed 40 times including animated versions. The first film adaptation was filmed in 1903. Just a few years after Carroll's death, directors Cecil Hepworth and Percy Stove made a 12-minute film based on the story. At that time - the beginning of the century - it was the longest film made in Great Britain.
It is interesting that in the first version of the tale there were no such bright characters, like the Hatter and the Cheshire Cat.
In one of the most popular translations, the Hatter was called the Hatter. All this is because in English “hatter” meant not only “hatter”. This word was used to describe people who do everything wrong. The British even have a saying: “Mad as a hatter.”
There are more than a million paintings created by artists from all over the world, depicting episodes from the legendary fairy tale. Salvador Dali painted 13 watercolors for different situations from the book.
The poem "Jabberwocky", which is included in the fairy tale "Alice in Wonderland", consists almost entirely of non-existent words. However, these words obey the laws of English - and are very similar to real ones.
Top 10 best quotes from the book "Alice in Wonderland":
- You know, one of the biggest losses in battle is losing your head.
- Tomorrow never happens today! Is it possible to wake up in the morning and say: “Well, it’s finally tomorrow”?
- The best way to explain is to do it yourself.
- If every person minded his own business, the Earth would spin faster.
- Mustard makes you sad, onions make you cunning, wine makes you feel guilty, and baking makes you feel good. What a pity that no one knows about this... Everything would be so simple. If only you could eat the baked goods, you’ll be fine!
- The more you learn right away, the less you suffer afterwards.
- You are beautiful. All that's missing is a smile.
- Don't be sad. Sooner or later everything will become clear, everything will fall into place and line up in a single beautiful pattern, like lace. It will become clear why everything was needed, because everything will be right.
- I've seen cats without smiles, but a smile without a cat...
- Alice was surprised that she was not surprised, but the amazing day had just begun and there was nothing surprising in the fact that she had not yet begun to be surprised.
- On July 4, 1862, a professor of mathematics at one of Oxford colleges, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (real name of Lewis Carroll), his colleague Duckworth and the three young daughters of the rector Liddell went on a boat trip along the Thames. Throughout the day, while the walk lasted, Dodgson, at the request of the girls, told them a story he made up as he walked. Its characters were the participants of the walk, including the professor’s favorite, 10-year-old Alice Liddell. She liked the story so much that she begged Dodgson to write it down, which he did the very next day.
- However, it took the busy professor two and a half years to fully record the story. He gave the green leather book with neat handwritten text to Alice as a Christmas present in 1864. The story was called "Alice's Adventures Underground" and contained only four chapters. Today it is kept in the British Library in London.
- A chance meeting at a party with the publisher Alexander Macmillan made it possible to realize Dodgson's dream of publishing Alice. However, first of all he needed to find good illustrator. He managed to get famous John Tenniel. It was his black and white illustrations to “Alice” are considered classic today, and the image of Alice with long blond hair is canonical.
- When choosing the color for the cover of Alice, Dodgson chose a clean, bright red. He found it most attractive to children. This color became the standard color for editions of Alice and other books by Carroll in England.
- Macmillan's publisher, The Claredon Press of Oxford, printed two thousand copies of the book - what we would now call the first printing - but it never went on sale. Illustrator Tenniel was extremely dissatisfied with the quality of the print, and Dodgson made a concession to him. He even recalled with apologies the 50 copies that he managed to send to friends. New circulation was printed in another printing house, and this time Tenniel was satisfied. The reprint, however, cost Dojoson a pretty penny - according to his agreement with MacMillan, the author covered all expenses. For a 33-year-old Oxford professor with a modest income, the decision was no easy task.
- Today any copy of that first edition costs thousands of pounds. The fate of these books, however, is quite vague. Currently, only 23 surviving copies are known, which have ended up in the collections of libraries, archives and private individuals.
- First Russian edition"Alice in Wonderland" was called "Sonya in the Kingdom of the Diva." It was printed in 1879 in the printing house of A.I. Mamontov in Moscow, without indicating the author or translator. Russian reviewers found the book strange and pointless.
- There are about 40 film adaptations of the book "Alice in Wonderland". The first film adaptation was staged in 1903. The silent black and white film lasted approximately 10-12 minutes and included special effects, quite high level for that time - for example, Alice shrank and grew while in a dollhouse.
- One of the first cartoons based on the book is “Alice in Wonderland,” drawn by the Disney studio in 1951. The project was in development for about 10 years, and its production took another five. And for good reason – this colorful and lively cartoon is still popular today. The Russian cartoon about Alice, which is in no way inferior in its artistic qualities to the American one, was created at the Kyiv Film Studio of Popular Science Films in 1981 (directed by Efrem Pruzhansky).
- Last film today, based on "Alice in Wonderland" - a 2010 film directed by Tim Burton and starring Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. This is not a classic production, but rather an interpretation of the book. Modern computer graphics made it possible to create a colorful and frightening Wonderland, almost as absurd as Carroll's.
4837
27.01.17 10:25
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson - do you know this name? Surely, those who are interested in the work of Lewis Carroll will answer in the affirmative, because that was the name of the British scientist and writer who invented the adventures of Alice in Wonderland. The facts are that the author of the legendary fairy tales preferred to distinguish between his mathematical and philosophical works and fiction, so I came up with a pseudonym. Published in 1865, the first Alice book was very popular, it was translated into 176 languages, and the character was used many times in films and television! Moreover, various film adaptations were released - from almost verbatim to free “variations on a theme.”
Today marks the 185th anniversary of the birth of Lewis Carroll, and for the anniversary we have prepared 10 facts about Alice in Wonderland.
"Alice in Wonderland": facts about the most absurdist fairy tale
She was a brunette!
The writer was inspired by the daughter of the dean of one of the Oxford colleges (Christ Church, where Carroll himself taught). He named his heroine in honor of Alice Liddell. When the dean arrived at his place of service (in 1856), he had five children; Alice was then 4 years old. True, there is one significant difference between the prototype and the character: the real Alice was a brunette, not a blonde.
Carroll almost went broke
Interesting fact: Alice in Wonderland was illustrated by the famous English artist John Tenniel. When he saw the first copy of the book, he was horrified - it seemed to him that the drawings were reproduced poorly. To reprint the edition, Carroll spent more than half of his annual income and found himself in a “financial hole.” Fortunately, Alice was an instant success.
First movie based on the book
You probably watched Burton's fantasy with Mia Wasikowska. And the first film about Alice was released by directors Cecil Hepworth and Percy Stowe in 1903. At that time it was the longest film in Great Britain: a full 12 minutes! Alas, the copy of the film was not preserved very well.
Cheshire cat tree
“My reality is different from yours,” the Cheshire Cat told Alice. Often all that remained of him was a smile (hanging in the air near the tree on the branch of which he was sitting). Such a tree is said to actually exist: in the garden behind the Liddell house on the grounds of Christ Church College.
The Queen is delighted!
"Alice in Wonderland" as they say historical facts, loved by Queen Victoria. The crowned lady praised the author and suggested that next book Carroll will dedicate it to her. Alas, the purely algebraic work “Information from the Theory of Determinants,” published in 1866, probably disappointed the queen.
Soup for the poor
Among the book's cast of strange characters was Quasi the turtle, a hybrid of a turtle and a calf. The Red Queen spoke of a quasi-turtle soup that closely resembled a cheap version of the turtle soup popular in Victorian era. The poor could not afford such luxury, so they made soup from beef hooves and heads.
Drugs have nothing to do with it
The fact that Alice drinks a potion (after which the space around her changes), eats mushrooms, talks to plants and animals, and often hears nonsense has led to an erroneous interpretation. Some readers decided that we're talking about about drugs like LSD. Of course, Carroll didn’t mean anything like that, because Alice is a little girl!
It turns out that all these hallucinations with altered space, enlargement or reduction of objects were experienced by the writer himself, suffering from a rare neurological disorder. The disease was first discovered in 1955 by English psychiatrist John Todd. The doctor called it "Alice in Wonderland syndrome."
The Chinese authorities were against it
As for talking to animals, because of this, Carroll’s fairy tales were banned in China in 1931. The local government considered that it was inappropriate to put man and animal on the “same level.”
Zero to Five
And one last interesting fact about Alice in Wonderland. In 1890, its author published an abridged version of the book for children “from zero to five” with colorful illustrations the same John Tenniel.
