The manuscript was illustrated by Carroll who added 37 illustrations—printed in a facsimile edition in 1887.[24] John Tenniel provided 42 wood-engraved illustrations for the published version of the book.[63] The first print run was destroyed (or sold in the U.S.[64]) at Carroll's request because he was dissatisfied with the quality. There are only 22 known first edition copies in existence.[63] The book was reprinted and published in 1866.[24] Tenniel's detailed black-and-white drawings remain the definitive depiction of the characters.[65]
Tenniel's illustrations of Alice do not portray the real Alice Liddell,[6] who had dark hair and a short fringe. Alice has provided a challenge for other illustrators, including those of 1907 by Charles Pears and the full series of colour plates and line-drawings by Harry Rountree published in the (inter-War) Children's Press (Glasgow) edition. Other significant illustrators include: Arthur Rackham (1907), Willy Pogany (1929), Mervyn Peake (1946), Ralph Steadman (1967), Salvador Dalí (1969), Graham Overden (1969), Max Ernst (1970), Peter Blake (1970), Tove Jansson (1977), Anthony Browne (1988), Helen Oxenbury (1999),[66] and Lisbeth Zwerger (1999).