''A New Alice in the Old Wonderland'' is a fantasy novel written by Anna M. Richards, illustrated by Anna M. Richards Jr., and published in 1895 by J. B. Lippincott of Philadelphia. According to Carolyn Sigler, it is one of the more important "Alice imitations", or novels inspired by

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

's ''Alice'' books. ''A New Alice'' features Alice Lee, an American girl with a coincidental name, visiting Wonderland and meeting all the characters she knows from '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and ''

Through the Looking-Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...

'' (1871). It is illustrated with 67 drawings by the writer's daughter, closely "after" the originals by John Tenniel. The Preface, pp. 5–6 in the first edition, is illustrated by a drawing of three children and signed "A. M. R., Sr." A rhyming poem in four stanzas, it indicates that the story originated years ago when "unreasonable children three" would accept nothing but the Wonderland of Alice. Evidently Anna M. Richards was the mother, who gave them more of what they knew and loved. Now grown up, one of them made the pictures. With apology to Tenniel and Carroll ("We're not original, nor wise, nor witty"), they plead for mercy from the Critic.Richards, Anna M. (1895)
"Preface"
First edition, e-copy at the Internet Archive. Retrieved 2016-08-03. The 2009 Evertype edition credits mother and daughter under their full names Alice Matlack Richards (1835–1900) and

Anna Richards Brewster Anna Richards Brewster (1870 – August 13, 1952) was an American painter. Biography She was born in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her parents were the poet and playwright Anna Matlack and the landscape painter Will ...

. Brewster, whose given middle name was Mary, not Matlack, became a renowned artist under her married name. According to Carolyn Sigler, Anna Matlack was already known as a poet and playwright before she married William Trost Richards in 1856, age 20 or 21. They had eight children. In the 1890s she wrote comic poems that were published in American children's magazines. ''A New Alice'' was "an expanded version of the stories she had invented for her young children, to whom the novel is dedicated, about their favorite storybook world." A second edition was published in 1896. Sigler interpolates, "Alice Lee—Richards's protagonist as well as her daughter, who is fictionalized in the text". (Sigler, 1996, pp. 56–57).

Bibliography

Publication history * Richards, Anna M. (1895) ''A New Alice in the Old Wonderland''. Lippincott. *Richards, Anna M. (2000) ''A New Alice in the Old Wonderland''. Wildside Press. *Richards, Anna Matlack (2009
''A New Alice in the Old Wonderland''
Cathair na Mart, County Mayo, Ireland: Evertype Publishing (www.evertype.com). Edited by Michael Everson. Foreword by Everson. There are multiple new editions since 2009. About ''A New Alice'' * Sigler, Carolyn (1996). "Brave New Alice: Anna Matlack Richards's Maternal Wonderland". ''Children's Literature'' 24, pp. 55–73
Reprint
at Project Muse (muse.jhu.edu).

References

External links

Anna Richards Brewster
– official website of the traveling exhibition ''Anna Richards Brewster, American Impressionist'' (?)
Digital copy
by Google at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

(archive.org) * * * – evidently includes works by a distinct A. M. Richards and at least one later Anna M. Richards {{DEFAULTSORT:New Alice in the Old Wonderland 1895 American novels 1895 fantasy novels 1890s children's books American fantasy novels American children's novels Children's fantasy novels Books based on Alice in Wonderland