Concept and Art

Bandersnatch Edition combines Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There into a beautiful lettered edition limited to 26 copies and packed with features that go beyond the physical book. The goal was to expand upon the already wonderful numbered Jabberwock Edition and completely go into the rabbit-whole and through the looking-glass, so to speak.

Creative concept for this edition is based on the idea that we wanted to put you, the reader, into Alice’s shoes. That is why all twenty illustrations (done by Damir Mazinjanin) that you’ll find inside are from Alice’s point of view; each pulling you a bit further into the story and showing the plot from a unique angle. Besides these twenty, of which two are full-spread illustrations, there are certain illustrated bonuses, like small chapter illustrations and an illustrated surprise that can be find in the middle. This surprise is placed there since the two sequels are fused into one book, each beginning on one cover and ending in the middle. This is also a small tribute to the Looking-Glass world, so it seemed fitting for this edition. Another thing that heavily influenced the creative concept was the writer’s love for math and logic (and not psychedelics like many seem to think), which he loved to bend, twist and break in his writing. That was channeled through the use of optical illusions on the covers, which do exactly that kind of thing to logic in the real world.

When you open the book, you are greeted with orange-red endpapers with cards and squares motif, while on the next page you can find the title written by hand in shimmering ink. The same goes for the sequel on the other side, but there the title is written backwards (also by hand) so it can only be read properly when pointed to a mirror. There is a small introduction from Lewis Carroll on one side, as well as a so-called “Foreafterword” on the beginning of the sequel, which explains the creative concept and the thought process behind it.

But most importantly, this edition comes in a luxurious wooden box, with beautiful carving of the title on both of its sides and with a lot of surprises on the inside. Once you open it, you are met with two chess boards and a set of chess figures that are neatly stored into the sides. The reason for two chess boards is because the design of this set was inspired by the special chess variant called Alice Chess, which uses two boards and one set of pieces, because they “move” from one board to the other, like going through the looking-glass. Of course, nothing is stopping you from playing regular chess or even checkers using only the pawns. The chess pieces were designed with simplicity and symmetry in mind. Their design was somewhat inspired by their movement, but also by the idea that they could be flipped upside down and still look the same. In other words, once they go “through the looking-glass”, their design remains the same. The chess squares are made from the same fabric we used for the covers and the slipcase, and are each carefully placed by hand in order to achieve a random pattern with the flow of the cloth, which creates an illusion of various shades of orange-red, thus guaranteeing that every chess set is truly one of a kind.

Each chess board contains its own feature. One board can be lifted to reveal a full enclosed slipcase that contains the oversized deck of cards that were specially designed for this edition. Again, since the goal was to put the reader into Alice’s shoes, just like regular cards would be too big for her, we have oversized this deck to emphasise that idea once again.

We wanted the slipcase to be a functional part of the chessboard, so we used the same type of cloth on all levels – book covers, slipcase, chess squares – in order to create a unified look and feel of the chess set. It is also an integral part because it completes one of the boards, while inside it hides a small surprise if you look into the cap. Also, with each copy comes a transparent Cheshire Cat bookmark, should you need any guidance on your reading adventures.

As previously mentioned, the whole run has only 26 copies, with three additional ones marked with roman numerals for the key participants of the projects, making this a true rarity in the book world.

You can see more pictures of the book and the illustrations in our gallery.
Photography: Dino Šertović.

Production

No expense was spared in picking the materials and production techniques for this glorious edition of Alice. Numerous elements had to be carefully handmade due to complexity of its execution. Traditionally, to ensure the best reading experience we used the beautiful and versatile Brioni typeface, as always.

The chessboards are made out of pure Slavonian fir, famed for its quality and durability. In order to use it to its full potential, several large pieces of oak were fused and then carved to create each side of the chessboards, only adding the moving parts to it later on. After this process was completed, and three layers of high quality black varnish were applied, each chess square was carefully placed by hand, as well as the border that goes around the edge.

The “white” chess pieces were made out of stainless steel, while the “red” chess pieces were made out of copper, both polished to high shine. They are also full metal, not just a frame, so they are quite heavy, with king being around 0,5kg, which means you really feel the weight of your every move. Please keep in mind that copper is highly reactive and in time it will gain its highly praised patina, especially if handled often. This was an accidental bonus for us; that only the white pieces (in other words: Alice’s pieces) remain reflective and true to the “looking-glass world”. The copper pieces, however, can be polished back to a clear shine at any time with any polishing agent intended for treating copper. We will also provide two pairs of white cotton gloves for your use if you want to avoid touching the pieces directly

The book is draped in a luxurious, off-white fabric which boasts a rich texture. Despite its delicate looks, the material is very durable and water-repellant. The illustrations on the covers were created using a jacquard technique, which means that hundreds upon hundreds of small threads were woven in order to produce the optical illusion. Also, each cover was placed on the book block by hand. As for the slipcase, it uses the same type of fabric as the covers and it boasts copper foil stamping of the title on its side.

The card symbols and square pattern on endpapers were made with UV coating to achieved the glossy effect upon the orange paper. The title is written in blood-orange shimmering ink for both sequels, which means it has a glittering effect under the certain angle of the light. The page edges were stamped with silver foil.

The bookmark is made out of transparent material, in order to achieve the illusion of Cheshire Cat’s smile appearing from thin air if the bookmark is protruding out of the book. Please note that the materials is somewhat sensitive, so it would be left with marks if you scratch it (just like a cat got to it!).

Orange-red thread was used for binding the book, which was then glued afterwards to provide maximum durability.

All of the above, and numerous other details, make this truly an ultimate edition of Alice.

Shipping

Since we put a lot of effort into creation of our books, we like to see them delivered safe and sound (and fast!) straight into your hands. That is why we ship with DHL Express, which means the books will be trackable at all times and they’ll arrive straight into your hands (unless you state otherwise). This also means they should arrive within 7-10 business days at the latest, but they’ll usually arrive within five business days, depending at what time of the day you made your order. Also please note that this edition will be covered with insurance while shipping.

Please be aware that although books are not subject to customs fees in many countries, they might be in yours. This may mean they’ll be held at customs for inspection, delaying the delivery time, and you may be charged a customs fee or import tax or similar. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about customs clearance – customs rules of each country make the importer (the buyer – you!) responsible for these fees.