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Mark Burstein (born 1950) is an author, book editor and expert on the works of
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 sequ ...
. He is a lifelong Carrollian and has been a key figure in the
Lewis Carroll Society of North America The Lewis Carroll Society of North America (LCSNA) is a learned, not-for-profit organization dedicated to furthering interest in the life and works of the Rev. Charles L. Dodgson, known to the world as Lewis Carroll, through its publications, and ...
(LCSNA).Chronological List of The Meetings of The Lewis Carroll Society of North America 1974 –
by August A. Imholtz, Jr. and Mark Burstein


Lewis Carroll expert

Burstein's father, Sandor G. Burstein, inspired him with a love for the works of Lewis Carroll at an early age. He has served the Lewis Carroll Society of North America (LCSNA) as its president, publications chair,Officers
LCSNA
and longtime editor of its magazine, ''Knight Letter''.The Knight Letter
Official website of the LCSNA
In 1979 he and Sandor founded The West Coast Chapter of LCSNA, Mark serving as its first and only president.Radio Interview With Current LCSNA President on Carroll’s Birthday
The Blog of the LCSNA, January 28, 2014
Burstein has written, edited, or made contributions to over twenty books by or about Lewis Carroll.Featured Presenters
The 14th Biennial Gathering 4 Gardner Conference (2020): "Why is Alice in Wonderland, along with the other Alice books, so prevalent in our culture and around the world? Why is Alice the most quoted and widely illustrated novel in English, as well as one of the most translated?"
He was the editor and art director of the deluxe 150th Anniversary Edition of Martin Gardner's ''
The Annotated Alice ''The Annotated Alice'' is a 1960 book by Martin Gardner incorporating the text of Lewis Carroll's major tales, ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and ''Through the Looking-Glass'' (1871), as well as the original illustrations by John Te ...
'' (W. W. Norton, 2015), and of the first trade edition of ''Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland'' illustrated by
Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...
(Princeton, 2015). He is the series editor of ''The Complete Pamphlets of Lewis Carroll'' Volumes V and VI (LCSNA/University of Virginia Press, 2015, 2020). His books have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, French, Korean, and Spanish. Burstein continues to build the collection of Carrollian memorabilia begun by his father, Sandor.
Mark Burstein & Alice: a World of the Mind
' by Bruce E. McKinney, Rare Book Monthly, January 2004 Issue
He owns over two thousand editions of ''
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creature ...
'' 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 ...
'' in 140 languages, and around two thousand additional books by or about Lewis Carroll.Q&A with Mark Burstein on "The Annotated Alice"
150th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, BookCulture


Martin Gardner

Burstein is a longtime admirer of fellow Carrollian and
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it ...
columnist
Martin Gardner Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writings of Lew ...
. In 2011 he created and edited ''A Bouquet for the Gardener: Martin Gardner Remembered'' (LCSNA, 2011), with contributions from other Gardner aficionados including
Raymond Smullyan Raymond Merrill Smullyan (; May 25, 1919 – February 6, 2017) was an American mathematician, magician, concert pianist, logician, Taoist, and philosopher. Born in Far Rockaway, New York, his first career was stage magic. He earned a BSc from ...
, Douglas Hofstadter and
David Singmaster David Breyer Singmaster (born 1938) is an emeritus professor of mathematics at London South Bank University, England. A self-described metagrobologist, he has a huge personal collection of mechanical puzzles and books of brain teasers. He is mo ...
.Books by Mark Burstein
at
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
In 2015 he edited the aforementioned anniversary edition of Gardner's ''Annotated Alice''.Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: 150th Anniversary Edition
by Lewis Carroll, Illustrated by Salvador Dalí, Edited by Mark Burstein Thomas Banchoff
In April 2022 he gave two talks at the 14th
Gathering 4 Gardner Gathering 4 Gardner (G4G) is an educational foundation and non-profit corporation (Gathering 4 Gardner, Inc.) devoted to preserving the legacy and spirit of prolific writer Martin Gardner. G4G organizes conferences where people who have been inspi ...
; first a featured presentation titled ''What IS It about Alice?'' and then a talk about the many occurrences of Lewis Carroll in Gardner's "
Mathematical Games A mathematical game is a game whose rules, strategies, and outcomes are defined by clear mathematical parameters. Often, such games have simple rules and match procedures, such as Tic-tac-toe and Dots and Boxes. Generally, mathematical games ne ...
" column titled ''A Literary Englishman and the'' Scientific American: ''Lewis Carroll’s Appearances in ‘Mathematical Games'.''


Comics and Comix

Burstein is a connoisseur and collector in the field of the American comic strip, particularly '' Pogo'', and the
Underground Comix Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...
of the 1960s and 70s. His books include ''Much Ado: The POGOfenokee Trivia Book'' (Eclipse Books, 1988), ''Alice in Comicland'',
Alice in Comicland
' New York Journal of Books
and '' Dave Sheridan: Life with Dealer McDope'', ''
The Leather Nun The Leather Nun are a Swedish rock group. Careening from garage rock to goth and pop-rock, Leather Nun became cult heroes in their native land and wide abroad. History The Leather Nun (a.k.a. "Lädernunnan") was formed in 1978 in Gothenburg, ...
'', and ''
The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' is an underground comic about a fictional trio of stoner characters, created by the American artist Gilbert Shelton. The Freak Brothers first appeared in ''The Rag'', an underground newspaper published in A ...
'' (Fantagraphics Underground, 2018).


Personal

Burstein got a BA at the
University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge of ...
(UCSC) in 1972.UCSC Campus Directory 1972: Mark Burstein
University of California at Santa Cruz
A longtime supernumerary with the
San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when h ...
, he lives in
Petaluma, California Petaluma (Miwok: ''Péta Lúuma'') is a city in Sonoma County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 according to the 2020 census. Petaluma's name comes from the Miwok village na ...
, surrounded by a huge collection of Carrollian memorabilia.Knight Letter No. 98, Spring 2017
LCSNA: "The Burstein Carroll collection is located in a tower in one of two large buildings on the Burstein ranch in Petaluma. Over the years, he has built on and expanded the Carroll collection begun by his late father, Sandor Burstein, whose name will be well known to many Carrollians. Ranged in rows in the main room are stuffed White Rabbits and several egg-like figurines of the Humpty Dumpty variety. The 'Drink Me' collection offers many Wonderland-inspired potables, including Babble Mendocino red wine, a vin extraordinaire with Tenniel illustrations on the label."
He is married to Llisa Demetrios, granddaughter of both Charles Eames and Virginia Lee Burton. They have two children, Martin and Sonja.


Selected publications

* ''Pictures and Conversations: Lewis Carroll in the Comics, An Annotated International Bibliography'', Edited by Mark Burstein, Byron Sewell, and Alan Tannenbaum, Ivory Door, 2003, *
The Annotated Alice 150th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
', by Lewis Carroll (Author),
John Tenniel Sir John Tenniel (; 28 February 182025 February 1914)Johnson, Lewis (2003), "Tenniel, John", ''Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online'', Oxford University Press. Web. Retrieved 12 December 2016. was an English illustrator, graphic humorist and poli ...
(Illustrator),
Martin Gardner Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writings of Lew ...
(Editor), Mark Burstein (Editor), W. W. Norton in (2015), * ''A Bouquet for the Gardener: Martin Gardner Remembered'', Edited by Mark Burstein, LCSNA, 2011, * ''Соня вь Царствѣ Дива'' (''Sonja in a Kingdom of Wonder''), Edited by Mark Burstein, LCSNA, 2013, * ''Alice In Comicland'', Edited by Craig Yoe and Mark Burstein, IDW Publishing, 2014, * ''Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: 150th Anniversary Edition'' Illustrated by Salvador Dalí, Princeton University Press, 2015, .


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burstein, Mark 1950 births Living people Lewis Carroll People from Petaluma, California University of California, Santa Cruz alumni American book editors