That ‘Sixteenth Thousand’ means just what it says – the batch of books this one came from completed a run of 16,000 copies. It would be easy to say that this was therefore the 16th edition if we knew that Macmillan published them a thousand at a time but of course that is not the case. This is something like the seventh edition, ie, the seventh time they ran off more copies because it was proving popular. (Although, when you think about it, not that popular. A bit of a slow burner really…)
It is still a great thing to own (in principle, see below) because it is a ‘thing’ to own a pre 1870 Alice. It was first published in 1865, the prices of early copies are astronomical and it’s fun to see how early you can go, back towards that holy grail of 1865. As prices are rising it’s possible to surf along with it and upgrade. Buying and selling as you go lifts the quality and whittles down the thousands. And pre 1870 feels like a real achievement.
But how far do you compromise? This copy is stained and incomplete. It’s on ebay for a tenner. It’s a toe in the water for that, so let’s see what happens…
Macmillan, 1869. Reprint.
