ABSTRACT
Lewis Carroll, "Alice' on the Stage', Theatre suggests that the tale was created in a flush of spontaneous inspiration, but there is evidence that it was developed over a longer period. Concerns over the quality of illustrations in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland would continue to plague Carroll throughout his lifetime. Macmillan immediately offered The Water-Babies as a model for Alice. Kingsley's formative fairy tale provided a precedent for details of design, including the cover, which was a staid green, but Carroll had firm ideas about the ideal cloth for his text. It is apparent that Carroll and Macmillan were hoping to capitalize on the 1865 Christmas market, and the book received almost immediate success. A notice in the Reader entitled 'Gift Books of the Season', 18th November 1865, advertises the forthcoming Wonderland. Lee and Shepard had published a reprint of Wonderland in 1869, and Macmillan thought that they would be an ideal distributor for Carroll's new Alice.
