Do you remember the moment you became a book collector? Not the moment you first started buying books, or even accumulating books, but that moment you dived into the deep end of bibliomania. For me it was the summer of 1984. I was 21 years old, freshly married and standing in the premises of Peter Stockham, a dealer in old children’s books in Cecil Court, London. My father had by then been collecting Robinson Crusoe for many years, and when I first began to travel on my own, I always liked to haunt secondhand bookshops looking for editions that might have previously eluded him. During college, I toyed with the idea of collecting myself and, not being too far removed from childhood I liked the idea of collecting children’s books. I had bought an early edition of The Wind In The Willows and a couple of ordinary editions of Alice in Wonderland, but I was hardly a collector. Then, in London on our honeymoon, my first wife and I had picked up two or three more Alices at bookshops in Bloomsbury and on Charing Cross Road. Collecting Alice seemed like it might be fun, but we weren’t exactly collecting. Yet. Then we asked Peter Stockham if he had any Alices and he disappeared into his basement only to return with two large boxes full of editions. It was time to fish or cut bait. Either we would buy the lot, or we would walk away empty-handed and find another hobby. We bought the lot, most for only a few pounds. And just like that we were book collectors. Years later I had dinner with Peter and another book collector and had the chance to thank him for giving me that opportunity to dive into the pool of bibliomania. I’ve been happily swimming there ever since. If you haven’t had your bibliophilic epiphany yet–come on in; the water’s fine!
I can vividly picture that very moment. Suddenly seeing what it would really mean to be a serious Carroll collector–you can’t do it halfway! Book collecting is the most wonderful passion to build a life around–you fill your mind as you master your topic, you furnish and decorate your house with your books and related objects, you fill your life with all the other people involved! That moment at Peter Stockham’s changed my life forever.
Dear Charlie Lovett,
I am a collector of Alice in Wonderland books too! I have the Italian edition of the book of which you published the cover in this post. In my edition the illustrator is not mentioned and there is just one coloured plate by A.E. Jackson and different black and white illustrations. The other illustrations are a sort of imitation of Jackson’s Alice but I am sure that he is not the author. If in your copy it is mentioned the name of the illustrator could you please let me know his/ her identity? Thank you, Caterina
My copy is just the same: a color plate by Jackson and the rest of the illustrations uncredited.
Hi Caterina, I am the editor of The Lewis Carroll Review published in London. Would you ever be interested in writing a review or reviews of items recently published in Italy?
I’d love to! Please, contact me at info dot caterinamorelli at gmail dot com
Also, thank you so much for the information, I really appreciate it.