Rhyme? and Reason?

8vo., finely rebound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe in full navy blue calf, decorative borders in gilt to covers and edges of boards; spine fully decorated in gilt with moon, owl, shell and boat devices in compartments; contrasting red morocco title and author labels gilt to second and third compartments; turn-ins with decorative gilt borders and decorative blue, red and black endpapers; all edges gilt; pp. [xv], xii, [i], 2-214, [vi]; with frontis behind mounted tissue-guard and a further 64 illustrations in black and white throughout; a little rubbing to spine ends and corners; backstrip lightly and evenly sunned; some offset browning to endpapers and a little toning throughout; early bookseller sticker to rear endpaper; a very good, clean copy overall, in the charming binding. 

First edition, fourth thousand. 

Rhyme? and Reason? is a collection of verses which appeared almost twenty years after the great success of Alice in Wonderland. Of them, Echoes, A Game of Fives, three of the Four Riddles and Fame’s Penny-Trumpet appear for the very first time. The collection also features The Hunting of the Snark, a nonsense poem which borrows heavily from many of the terms used in Carroll’s Jabberwocky, and follows a crew of ten men as they attempt to hunt down the elusive Snark, a creature which may turn out to be a highly dangerous Boojum. Phantasmogoria, Carroll’s longest poem, also features. The structure follows the comic discussion between a ghost (a Phantom) and a man named Tibbets, who in the end discover that they are not so different from one another. As with much of Carroll’s work, the response to these poems was mixed. Many reviewers were bewildered by the nonsense of it all, while others found the verses to be lighthearted, humorous, and entertaining in its silliness. 

The poems are wonderfully illustrated by Frost, whose illustrations here represent some of the earliest commissions in his long career. The illustrations for ‘The Hunting of the Snark’ were reprinted from the original first edition. Holiday went on to become a close friend of Carroll, up until his death in 1898. 

A lovely collection in Carroll’s canon of works, in the very pretty binding by the prestigious Sangorski & Sutcliffe.  

SKU: 1800159