06 Jul 07

This week is the 145th anniversary of the first telling of the story of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. As part of the Oxfordshire 2007 celebrations, The Story Museum, a virtual museum of children's literature, is co-ordinating a series of family events to celebrate Alice Day in Oxford on Saturday 7 July.

It was on July 4 1862 that Charles Dodgson, an Oxford don at Christ Church, took Alice Liddell and her sisters on a boating picnic up the River Thames from Folly Bridge to Godstow near Wolvercote. To amuse them he told a story - about a white rabbit, a Queen of Hearts, a mock turtle, a mad hatter and a little girl who tumbled down a rabbit hole into Wonderland. The story so delighted the 10-year-old Alice that she begged him to write it down. The result was the immortal Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which was published in 1865 under the pen name Lewis Carroll; it remains one of the most popular children's books ever written.

Alice Day on 7 July

There will be a range of activities around Oxford with one highlight being a talk at the Ashmolean Museum entitled 'The Wonderland Story' by Sally Brown, Curator of Modern Literary Manuscripts at the British Library. This will be followed by a showing of The Original Alice, a short documentary film by the British Library. There will be a free workshop 'Through the Looking Glass': ways of seeing the Pitt Rivers Museum. At the Museum of Natural History, you can see the remains of a dodo and hear a talk about Lewis Carroll and Alice. Also on offer is lunchtime music at the Museum of Natural History and jazz at the Botanic Gardens.

Commenting on the events, Curator Sally Brown said: 'I am thrilled to be involved in Alice Day. Exploring the story of Alice on a trail throughout Oxford is such a wonderful and imaginative way to celebrate Lewis Carroll and his renowned story. As Curator of Modern Literary Manuscripts at the British Library, the Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is one of my favourite books.'

Oxford University's Ashmolean Museum

From 3 -8 July, the Ashmolean Museum is exhibiting a special display of manuscripts, proof sheets and printing plates illustrating Lewis Carroll's editions of Alice's Adventures Under Ground and The Mouses's Tale, on loan from Oxford University press, Christ Church (Carroll's old Oxford college) and a private collection.

Oxford University's Bodleian Library

From 19 June - 7 July, there is a special display at the Bodleian Library, including a copy of the very rare first printing of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland from 1865. There will also be a copy of The Nursery Alice of 1890 with its coloured Tenniel drawings and Arthur Rackham's illustrations.

Other museums

Visitors will also have a chance to see a special display of Lewis Carroll's photographic equipment at the Museum of the History of Science and Salvador Dali's prints for the illustrations for Alice at the University Museum of Natural History.