Alice in Wonderland magic lantern slides

The prompts that accompanied these magic lantern slides borrow heavily from Lewis Carroll’s text, just as the slides closely echo Tenniel’s original designs

Transcription:

“Off with their heads!” cried the Queen, when she found out what the three gardeners had been doing, but Alice saved them by putting them into a large flower-pot that stood near, and where the soldiers could not see them. “Can you play croquet?” the Queen asked Alice. Alice replied, “Yes.” “Come on, then,” said the Queen, and the procession moved on to the croquet ground. It was the most curious game that Alice had ever played: the ground was all ridges and furrows, the balls were live hedge-hogs, the mallets live flamingos, and the soldiers doubled themselves up and stood upon their hands and feet to make the arches. Alice found a great difficulty in managing her flamingo; it would twist itself round and look up in her face, with such a puzzled expression, that she could not help laughing, whilst the hedge-hogs crawled away just when she wanted to hit them, and the doubled-up soldiers were always getting up and walking off to other parts of the ground. It was a very difficult game indeed. Presently she noticed a curious appearance in the air. It puzzled her at first, but soon she made it out to be a grin, and she said to herself, “It’s the Cheshire Cat: now I shall have somebody to talk to.”

Image Caption:
W. Butcher & Sons
Alice in Wonderland
Magic lantern slides issued in the Primus junior lecturers' series, number 778d
London, 1905-1908
The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. Gift of Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., 1987, PML 352354.1-7.
Photography by Graham S. Haber, 2015.

Magic lantern slide 2

The prompts that accompanied these magic lantern slides borrow heavily from Lewis Carroll’s text, just as the slides closely echo Tenniel’s original designs

Transcription:

Only the Cat’s head appeared; it seemed to think that was sufficient. “Who are you talking to?” said the King, coming up to Alice. “It’s a friend of mine—a Cheshire Cat,” said Alice, “Allow me to introduce it.” “I don’t like the look of it at all,” said the King, “It must be removed,” and he called to the Queen, “My Dear! I wish you would have this Cat removed!” “Off with his head!” answered the Queen. But here a difficulty arose, and the question was hotly argued. The executioner said that you couldn’t cut off a head unless there was a body to cut it off from; the King said that anything that had a head could be beheaded; and the Queen said that if something wasn’t done about it in less than no time, she’d have everybody executed all around. The Cat settled the question by quietly fading away, and the players went back to their game. Presently the Queen asked Alice, “Have you seen the Mock Turtle yet?” “No,” said Alice, “I don’t even know what a Mock Turtle is.” “It’s a thing that Mock Turtle Soup is made from,” said the Queen; “Come on and he shall tell you his history.”

Magic lantern slide 3

The prompts that accompanied these magic lantern slides borrow heavily from Lewis Carroll’s text, just as the slides closely echo Tenniel’s original designs

Transcription:

Very soon they came upon a Gryphon, and the Queen put Alice in his charge, saying she had to go back
and see after some executions. “What fun!” said the Gryphon: “What is the fun?” said Alice. “Why, she,”
said the Gryphon. “It’s all her fancy, that: they never executes nobody, you know. Come on!” So they
came to the Mock Turtle, sitting sad and lonely on a ledge of rock, and sighing as if his heart would
break. “This here young lady,” said the Gryphon, “she wants for to know your history, she do.” With
many sobs and eyes full of tears, the Mock Turtle told his story. “Once,” he began, “I was a real Turtle.
When we were little we went to school in the sea. The master was and old Turtle; we used to call him
Tortoise.” “Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn’t one?” “We called him Tortoise because he taught
us. We had the best of educations. I took the regular courses—couldn’t afford extras. There was Reeling
and Writhing to begin with, and then the different branches of Arithmetic: Ambition, Distraction,
Uglification and Derision. Never heard of Uglification? You know what to beautify is, I suppose?” “Yes,”
said Alice, “it means to make anything prettier.” Well, then, if you don’t know what to uglify is you must
be a simpleton.” “What else had you to learn?” asked Alice. “Well, there was Mystery, ancient and
modern, with Seaography, then Drawling: the Drawling Master was an old Conger Eel, that used to come
once a week; he taught us Drawling, Sketching and Fainting in Coils.” “Tell her about the games,” said
the Gryphon. The Mock Turtle sighed deeply, and with difficulty repressed his sobs. “You may not have
lived much under the sea,” he went on, “and perhaps were never even introduced to a Lobster, so you
can have no idea what a delightful thing a Lobster Quadrille is.”

Magic lantern slide 4

The prompts that accompanied these magic lantern slides borrow heavily from Lewis Carroll’s text, just as the slides closely echo Tenniel’s original designs

Transcription:

“No, indeed,” said Alice. “What sort of dance is it?” “Why,” said the Gryphon, “you first form into a line
along the sea shore.” “Two lines!” cried the Mock Turtle, “Seals, Turtles and so on, then, when you’ve
cleared the jelly-fish out of the way, you advance twice.” “Each with a Lobster as a partner,” cried the
Gryphon. “Of course,” the Mock Turtle said. “Advance twice, set to partners, change Lobsters, and retire
in same order,” continued the Gryphon. “Then, you know,” the Mock Turtle went on, “you throw the—“
“The Lobsters!” shouted the Gryphon, with a bound into the air—“as far out to sea as you can—“ “Swim
after them,” screamed the Gryphon. “Turn a somersault in the sea,” cried the Mock Turtle, capering
wildly about. “Change Lobsters again,” yelled the Gryphon. “Back to land again, and that’s all in the first
figure,” said the Mock Turtle. “Would you like to see a little of it?” “Very much, indeed.” said Alice. So
they began solemnly dancing round and round Alice, singing as they went, and waving their fore paws to
mark the time. Then they had more talk, and a song about “Turtle Soup,” which was interrupted by a cry
in the distance.

Magic lantern slide 5

The prompts that accompanied these magic lantern slides borrow heavily from Lewis Carroll’s text, just as the slides closely echo Tenniel’s original designs

Transcription:

“The trial’s beginning” The King and Queen were seated on their throne when they arrived, with a great
crowed assembled about them … Alice for some time had been feeling a very curious sensation, which
puzzled her a good deal until she made out what it was—she was growing larger again. Quite forgetting
this in her surprise at hearing the White Rabbit call on “Alice” as the next witness, she jumped up and
tipped over the jury-box with the edge of her skirt, upsetting all the Jurymen on the heads of the crowd
below, and there they lay sprawling about, reminding her very much of a globe of gold-fish she had
accidentally upset the week before. “Oh, I beg your pardon!” she exclaimed in a tone of great dismay,
and began picking them up again as quickly as she could. “The trial cannot proceed until all the Jurymen
are back in their proper places,” said the King. Alice found she had put the Lizard in head downwards,
but she soon put that to right.

Magic lantern slide 6

The prompts that accompanied these magic lantern slides borrow heavily from Lewis Carroll’s text, just as the slides closely echo Tenniel’s original designs

Transcription:

The King turned to the Jury: “Consider your verdict,” he said. “No, No!” said the Queen, “sentence first,
verdict afterwards.” “Stuff and nonsense!” said Alice loudly. “Off with her head!” shouted the Queen.
“Who cares for you, said Alice, you’re nothing but a pack of cards!” … And then the whole pack rose up
into the air, and came flying down upon her. She gave a little scream and tried to beat them off, and
then found herself lying on the bank with her head in her sister’s lap, whilst some dead leaves fluttered
down from the trees upon her face. “Oh, I’ve had such a curious dream!” said Alice, and she told her
sister of her strange adventures in Wonderland.