SYLVIE AND BRUNO [with] SYLVIE AND BRUNO CONCLUDED

First edition, first printing. Two volumes. Inscribed presentation copies, signed by the author. Publisher's original red cloth, triple ruled in gilt and with circular illustrations in gilt to the upper and lower boards, titles in gilt to the spines. All edges gilt. Each volume with a tissue guarded frontispiece and 45 further illustrations throughout the text by Harry Furniss. Both volumes are in very good or better condition, the bindings firm with a little bumping at the extremities, the cloth with a few minor marks, the spine of Sylvie and Bruno somewhat faded, that of Sylvie and Bruno Concluded a little rippled. The contents, with a little spotting to the prelims, and occasionally to the margins throughout, are otherwise clean and bright. An attractive set.

'Sylvie and Bruno' is inscribed on the half title in purple ink "Ada Frost / from the Author / [flourish] / Dec. 12. 1889" above which the recipient has inscribed "Dixon" in black. 'Sylvie and Bruno Concluded' is inscribed in black ink on the half title "Mrs Dixon, / with the Author's kind regards, / [flourish] / Dec. 28, 1893". The recipient Ada Dixon, (née Frost, 1874-1964), was a professional child model who sat for sketches made by Dodgson in Mrs Shute's studio in 1888 (Letters 2: 692-93), after which the author presented her with a specially bound, presentation copy of 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. The present copy of Sylvie and Bruno followed on first publication, shortly after. In 1892, on receiving a letter from Ada advising of her marriage, Dodgson sent a specially bound presentation copy of 'Through the Looking Glass' to match the Alice he had given her four years earlier, followed shortly after by the present copy of 'Sylvie and Bruno Concluded', his final work for children. Whilst Dodgson is known primarily for his writing, he was also a keen amateur photographer and artist. He created thousands of photographs in the Victorian symbolist tradition formed by the likes of Julia Margaret Cameron and Oscar Gustave Rejlander, and illustrated his own written drafts, including a precursor to what would become 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland', a hand written manuscript titled 'Alice's Adventures Under Ground'. Ada Dixon was among many models who posed for Dodgson's photographs and sketches, and it was not uncommon for him to form friendships with them, exchanging letters and even attending their weddings. The most famous of his models is undoubtedly Alice's namesake herself, Alice Liddell, a daughter of Henry Liddell, who was the Dean of Christ Church College, Oxford, where Dodgson was a lecturer of mathematics. As well as employing them as photographic subjects, Dodgson would take the Liddell children out on rowing trips, and it was on one such trip that he first told a tale of the fantasy world through the rabbit hole, which Alice Liddell enjoyed so much that she begged him to write it down. Provenance: presented by the author to Ada Dixon (nee Frost) in 1889 and 1893, thence by family descent.