As a matter of fact, Tenniel did not wish to do the second book, so Mr. Dodgson ("Lewis Carrol"), the author, asked various other artists to undertake the task, amongst them Sir J. Noel Paton, who, being out of health at the time, at once declined, saying, "No, Tenniel is the man." And most fortunately, both for author and artist, he was, the drawings being most grotesque, and the delightful fooling and outrageous fancy beyond description: for instance, "Looking-Glass House," "Tweedle-dum-tweedle-dee-dee," "Humpty-Dumpty," "The Lion and Unicorn," and last of all "Queen Alice." Such pictures were half the battle in the success of these two delightful little volumes.
During the process of completing the illustrations a great deal of correspondence, always of the most agreeable nature, took place with the Rev. Mr. Dodgson, as to their execution and finish. It is well known that he was more than usually critical, both with the drawings and with the engravings. Mr. Dodgson also entrusted us later with the drawings made by Mr. A. B. Frost—a very clever and highly esteemed American artist, who fully entered into the quaint humour of the text—for "Rhyme and Reason" and "A Tangled Tale."
So much was Tenniel engaged at this time that we always regarded his undertaking the pictures, seven in number, for our "Arabian Nights," as an act of kindness to ourselves.
Alice in Wonderland.
By Sir John Tenniel.
By permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.
Outside his Punch work, we believe nearly all Tenniel's work for wood engraving was executed by us.