London: Macmillan and Co.,, 1893. Withdrawn from circulation by the author", one of only four known copies, and possibly a unique variant Third edition, final printing (the "Sixtieth Thousand"), which the author withdrew from circulation, and of which "it is surprising that any copies have survived at all" (Goodacre, p. 253). This is one of the legendary Lewis Carroll rarities. The story of Carroll rejecting the first edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865 is well known. He later exhibited an "almost obsessive concern over the practical details involved in the production of his books" (Goodacre, p. 251) and found fault with A Tangled Tale in 1885, the first private edition of The Game of Logic in 1886, and the first printing of The "Nursery" Alice in 1889. When Carroll received six copies of the "sixtieth thousandth" printing of Through the Looking-Glass in 1893, it became the latest book to cause the author annoyance. In his diary for 21 November 1893, Carroll stated that "I found the pictures so badly printed that the books are not worth anything" (Diaries, p. 105). Carroll then threatened his publishers with a termination of publishing contracts. He wrote to Macmillan noting that "...much as I should regret the having to sever a connection that has now lasted nearly 30 years, I shall feel myself absolutely compelled to do so, unless I can have some assurance that better care shall be taken, in future, to ensure that my books shall be of the best artistic quality attainable for the money" (Letters, p. 995). On enquiry, Carroll found 60 copies had been sold, and he ordered that the remaining 940 copies were to be destroyed, even though it would cause the book temporarily to fall out of print. Four days later, Carroll decided that he would give the rejected edition away, and the publishers issued an advertisement asking for copies of the "Sixtieth Thousand" to be returned, and that they would then be given "to Mechanics' Institutes, Village Reading-Rooms, and similar institutions". Copies thus distributed had a note stamped on the title page in purple ink. Goodacre notes that "theoretically there should be three variants of the book" (Goodacre, p. 253). The first variant would comprise one of the 60 copies which failed to be returned. The second would comprise one of the 60 copies with the addition of the rubber stamp note on the title page. The third variant comprises the remaining 940 copies with lettering in blind on the front cover noting presentation "for use of Mechanics Institutes, Reading Rooms, etc." When Goodacre contributed a paper to The Book Collector in 1975 he stated that he owned a copy of the third variant and knew of only one other copy (in Harvard University Library). Of the other two variants he noted "possibly no copies have survived". In 1990 the Lovetts noted that "no copies of the 60th thousand in standard binding have been recorded, and only three copies of this 'Mechanics' Institute' edition are known". A more recent (unpublished) census by Goodacre traced four copies in the original cloth. The Nicholas Falletta Collection of Lewis Carroll Books and Manuscripts (Christie's South Kensington, November 2005) included the author's own copy with annotations throughout. That copy, sold by Peter Harrington in 2005, later formed part of the Library of an English Bibliophile (Sotheby's, July 2018). That copy was an example of Goodacre's first variant. It is likely that the present volume is a unique example of Goodacre's second variant, comprising a copy in original binding with the ink stamp added to the title page. Octavo. Frontispiece and 49 illustrations within the text, all by John Tenniel; 4 pp. publisher's advertisements at rear. Original red cloth, spine lettered in gilt, covers with pictorial roundels and triple-line borders in gilt, black endpapers, all edges gilt. Housed in a custom quarter red morocco folding box. Spine slightly skewed and sunned, extremities a little bumped, one gathering a little proud, occasional foxing and finger-soiling: a near-fine copy. Williams, Madan, Green & Crutch 84b. Morton N. Cohen, The Letters of Lewis Carroll, Vol. 2, 1979; Selwyn H. Goodacre, "Lewis Carroll's Rejection of the 60th Thousand of Through the Looking-Glass", The Book Collector, Summer 1975; Edward Wakeling, Lewis Carroll's Diaries, Vol. 9, 2005.
