Wonder follows wonder as British Library celebrates Alice’s 150th birthday

A new exhibition brings together the original manuscript and an array of illustrated editions that reveal the enduring allure of Alice, writes Frank Cottrell Boyce

There’s a maths to most stories. In a farce, the consequences of the indiscretion keep squaring themselves. In a detective story, you have to find x. In a romance, one and one make two. The maths of Alice in Wonderland – the 150th birthday of which the British Library is celebrating in a new exhibition that brings together the original manuscript and an array of illustrated editions – is “one and one and one and one and one and one and one … ” Wonder follows wonder with no twist, no revelation. It shouldn’t really add up.

Related: Alice in Wonderland: the never-ending adventures

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