Alice Illustrated Around the World

Alice in Wonderland.

Illustrated with six colored lithographs by Marie Laurencin.

Paris: The Black Sun Press, 1930.

The French artist and illustrator, Marie Laurencin (1883–1956) was a member of a circle of artists which included Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in the early decades of the 20th century.

Her light, almost pastel lithographs, however, show little influence of the cubist style. In fact, as the University of Delaware Special Collections website states, her illustrations “resemble children’s crayon drawings and emphasize the gentle children’s story without the dark undertones of many versions of Alice.” Alice’s eyes, for example, are totally black!

This is copy No. 410 of the 420 copies of the American issue. The Black Sun Press was founded by the American expatriate couple Harry and Caresse Crosby in Paris in the 1920s. Their Alice in Wonderland has been described as one of the finest productions of the Black Sun Press.

Exhibit item 3.54