Alice from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, illustration by John Tenniel, 1866

Alice steps Through the Looking-Glass | through the looking-glass ; illustration by Sir John Tenniel

He is first seen as Alice's soft toy, then becomes something that resembles a shriveled version of the John Tenniel illustration.

John Tenniel | Tenniel illustration to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

The The Hatter | Mad Hatter's tea party ; illustration by Sir John Tenniel

Tweedledum and Tweedledee ; illustration by Sir John Tenniel

The March Hare ; illustration by Sir John Tenniel

The often-displeased Queen of Hearts ( Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ) | Queen of Hearts ; illustration by Sir John Tenniel

Alice picks up the White King ( Through the Looking-Glass ) | White King ; illustration by Sir John Tenniel.

Alice discovers a Through the Looking-Glass | reflected, alternate world ; illustration by Sir John Tenniel.

The Gryphon ( Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ) | Gryphon ; illustration by Sir John Tenniel

Also, the fat man at right is taken from a trumpeter in another illustration by Tenniel, for John Milton's " L ' Allegro ".

The original illustration by John Tenniel at right, is something of a visual paradox ; the caterpillar's human face appears to be formed from the head and legs of a more realistic caterpillar.

Inspired by classic English illustrators such as E H Shepard, Tenniel Arthur Rackham, Ambrus chose to make his way to England, recognising that it would be a good place to continue his study of illustration.

The description and drawing by John Tenniel gives comedic value to the Mock Turtle, as he is clearly an assemblage of creatures, therefore not a real turtle as his name rightly suggests.

Despite the thousands of political cartoons and hundreds of illustrative works attributed to him, a measurable amount of Tenniel ’ s fame comes specifically from his work as the illustrator of Alice.

" The Raven " depicts a mysterious raven's midnight visit to a mourning narrator, as illustrated by John Tenniel ( 1858 ).

The characters of Hatta and Haigha ( pronounced as the English would have said " hatter " and " hare ") make an appearance, and are pictured ( by Sir John Tenniel, not by Carroll ) to resemble their Wonderland counterparts, the Hatter and the March Hare.

Over the years Tenniel gradually lost sight in his right eye ; he never told his father of the severity of the wound, as he did not wish to upset his father to any greater degree than he had been.

Tenniel executed 2, 165 separate cartoons for Punch, a liberal and politically active publication that took full advantage of the Victorian time ’ s mood for want of liberal social changes ; thus Tenniel, in his cartoons, represented for years the conscience of the British people.

With such a reputation seemingly firm and in place for both Punch and Tenniel, it would stand to reason that the artist ’ s public status attracted high levels of attention and notoriety from his peers and the public ; Carroll, a regular reader of Punch, knew, of course, of Tenniel.

Early tributes as to what Tenniel in his role as a national observer meant to the British nation around the time of his death came in as high praise ; in 1914 New York Tribune journalist George W. Smalley referred to John Tenniel as “ one of the greatest intellectual forces of his time, ( who ) understood social laws and political energies .”

Sir John Tenniel is also the author of one of the mosaics, Leonardo da Vinci, in the South Court in the Victoria and Albert Museum ; while his highly stippled watercolour drawings appeared from time to time in the exhibitions of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, of which he had been elected a member in 1874.

Famous illustrators for British editions include: Arthur Boyd Houghton, John Tenniel, John Everett Millais and George John Pinwell for Dalziel's Illustrated Arabian Nights Entertainments, published in 1865 ; Walter Crane for Aladdin's Picture Book ( 1876 ); Albert Letchford for the 1897 edition of Burton ’ s translation ; Edmund Dulac for Stories from the Arabian Nights ( 1907 ), Princess Badoura ( 1913 ) and Sindbad the Sailor & Other Tales from the Arabian Nights ( 1914 ).

Accounts of Martin ’ s evening parties reveal an astonishing array of thinkers, eccentrics and social movers ; one witness was a very young John Tenniel — later illustrator of Lewis Carroll ’ s work — who was heavily influenced by Martin and who was a close friend of his children.

He did so then as the author of a new serial fiction, the Gordian Knot, in January 1858 ; but this work, although illustrated by John Tenniel, and consisting of twelve numbers only, remained unfinished for upwards of two years.

Why should primers not have pictures that widen rather than narrow the associative richness the children give to the words they illustrate — drawings like those of the wonderfully imaginative geniuses among children ’ s illustrators, Tenniel, Howard Pyle, " Seuss ", Walt Disney?

Among the irregular contributors with just a single Mad byline to their credit are Charles M. Schulz, Chevy Chase, " Weird Al " Yankovic, Andy Griffith, Will Eisner, Kevin Smith, J. Fred Muggs, Boris Vallejo, Sir John Tenniel, Jean Shepherd, Winona Ryder, Jimmy Kimmel, Jason Alexander, Walt Kelly, Rep. Barney Frank, Tom Wolfe, Steve Allen, Jim Lee, Jules Feiffer, Donald Knuth and Richard Nixon, who remains the only President credited with " writing " a Mad article.

Cards following Jaques's original designs, with grotesque illustrations possibly by Sir John Tenniel ( there was no official credit ), are still being made.

* 1820 – John Tenniel, English illustrator ( d. 1914 )

Sir John Tenniel ( Bayswater, London, 28 February 1820 – 25 February 1914 ) was a British illustrator, graphic humourist and political cartoonist whose work was prominent during the second half of England ’ s 19th century.

Tenniel is considered important to the study of that period ’ s social, literary, and art histories.

Tenniel is most noted for two major accomplishments: he was the principal political cartoonist for England ’ s Punch magazine for over 50 years, and he was the artist who illustrated Lewis Carroll ’ s Alice ’ s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.

In 1840 Tenniel, while practicing fencing with his father, received a serious wound in his eye from his father's foil, which had accidentally lost its protective tip.

As the influential result of his position as the chief cartoon artist for Punch ( published 1841 – 1992, 1996 – 2002 ), John Tenniel, through satirical, often radical and at times vitriolic images of the world, for five decades was and remained Great Britain ’ s steadfast social witness to the sweeping national changes in that nation ’ s moment of political and social reform.

When examined separately from the book illustrations he did over time, Tenniel ’ s work at Punch alone, expressing decades of editorial viewpoints, often controversial and socially sensitive, was created to ultimately echo the voices of the British public, and is in itself massive.

In 1865 Tenniel, after considerable talks with Carroll, illustrated the first edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

MS Eng 718. 6 ( 12 ) Tenniel, John, Sir, 1820-1914.

The first print run of 2, 000 was shelved because Tenniel objected to the print quality.

After the Carroll projects were finished, Tenniel did virtually no such work after 1872.

Carroll did at some later time approached Tenniel again to undertake another project for him.

In his career Tenniel contributed around 2, 300 cartoons, innumerable minor drawings, double-page cartoons for Punch's Almanac and other special numbers, and 250 designs for Punch's Pocket-books.

An ultimate tribute came to an elderly Tenniel as he was honored as a living national treasure and for his public service was knighted in 1893 by Queen Victoria.

The first such honour ever bequeathed on an illustrator or cartoonist, his fellows saw his knighting coming as gratitude for “ raising what had been a fairly lowly profession to an unprecedented level of respectability .” With knighthood, Tenniel elevated the social status of the black and white illustrator, and sparked a new sense of recognition of and occupational honour to his lifelong profession.

Because his task was to construct the wilful choices of his Punch editors, who probably took their cue from The Times and would have felt the suggestions of political tensions from Parliament as well, Tenniel ’ s work, as was its design, could be scathing in effect.

The restlessness of the Victorian period ’ s issues of working class radicalism, labor, war, economy, and other national themes were the targets of Punch, which in turn commanded the nature of Tenniel ’ s subjects.

When he retired in January 1901, Tenniel was honoured with a farewell banquet ( 12 June ), at which AJ Balfour, then Leader of the House of Commons, presided.