The Annotated Hunting of the Snark (The Annotated Books) [Hardcover]

Lewis Carroll (Author), Martin Gardner (Editor), Henry Holiday (Illustrator), Adam Gopnik (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: The Annotated Books | Publication Date: October 17, 2006

The definitive guide to one of the most baffling epics of nineteenth-century literature—a companion to The Annotated Alice.

"It's a Snark!"…for whatever else can it be?" Published on April Fools' Day in 1876, Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark remains one of the most amusing and bizarre works of modern verse. Carroll, who completed this classic poem eleven years after the publication of Alice in Wonderland, invites readers along on a fictitious hunt to determine who—or what—the Snark actually is. More than 130 years later, the indomitable Martin Gardner returns to the Snark with a trove of new annotations and illustrations, uncovering some of the most confounding literary, linguistic, and mathematical references embedded in any of Lewis Carroll's many works. Included in this gorgeous, two-color volume is an introduction by Adam Gopnik, as well as Henry Holiday's distinctive, original illustrations, a substantial bibliography, and a suppressed drawing of the infamous Boojum. With a host of other Snark resources, this is the most ambitious work on Lewis Carroll's masterpiece in many decades.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Having prepared the definitive edition of The Annotated Alice (1999), prolific polymath Gardner has now produced the perfect companion volume, the definitive edition of Carroll's long nonsense poem, The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits (1876). Carroll may have written The Hunting of the Snark for children, but this enigmatic tale in verse of a group of adventurers seeking a legendary creature is a lot less accessible than the two Alice books to the modern reader, whether young or old. Indeed, many will find the annotations to the various literary, linguistic and philosophical aspects of the work of more interest than the poem itself. Besides the original Henry Holiday illustrations, this attractive package includes an introduction by Adam Gopnik, a new preface by Gardner, an extensive bibliography and an appendix of Snark sites on the Web. Even Gardner fans who own the original Annotated Snark (1962) will want this one. (Oct.)Look for a profile of Gardner in an upcoming issue of PW.
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About the Author

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898), the pen name of Oxford mathematician, logician, photographer and author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, is famous the world over for his fantastic classics Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, The Hunting of the Snark, Jabberwocky, and Sylvie and Bruno.

Martin Gardner (1914-2010) is the author of more than seventy books, including Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, The Annotated Alice, The Annotated Hunting of the Snark, and The Colossal Book of Mathematics.

English artist Henry Holiday (1839-1927) worked in the Pre-Raphaelite school and created many works of art, including over 300 commissioned stained-glass windows and the illustrations for Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark.

Adam Gopnik has written about art and life for The New Yorker since 1986 and is the author of Paris to the Moon.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Definitive Ed edition (October 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393062422
• ISBN-13: 978-0393062427
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #445,091 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "An agony in eight fits.", November 5, 2006

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Annotated Hunting of the Snark (The Annotated Books) (Hardcover)

Filled with exuberant language, The Annotated Hunting of the Snark is an unparalleled adventure, part nonsense, part ironic elucidation, suggesting that nothing is ever what it seems. Published on April Fool's Day 1876, Carroll's epic poem, The Hunting of the Snark, is elaborately presented with annotations by Martin Gardener, exploring the sea voyage of a crew determined to capture the elusive Snark; they are ten: a Bellman, a Boots, a maker of Bonnets and Hoods, a Barrister, a Broker, a Billiard-Maker, a Banker, a Beaver and a Butcher. The Snark itself presents a conundrum, be it beast of "Boojum", an entity that will cause them all to disappear.

For over a century, scholars have discussed Carroll's poem, its nonsense, allegories and anecdotes, rife with hidden meanings and scholarly interpretations. The annotations and illustrations in this volume are classic, black and white images of animated men and beasts, fantasy in the ink strokes of the artist's pen, page after page of fascinating annotations reflecting the variety of discussions engendered by the poem: "According to Humpty Dumpty, the word `mimsy" (from the first stanza of Jabberwocky) is a portmanteau word combining `miserable' and `flimsy'."

Each fit advances the story, introducing the crew members, each with his pretensions and expectations. Both dreamlike and illogical, The Annotated The Hunting of the Snark appeals in language and whimsy with undertones of danger, the unknown lurking, a virtual treasure trove of allegories for those inclined to such interpretation. It is Gardner who adds the unique spirit of this edition, expansively embracing "a personal God and much that confounds the simple or poverty-stricken or mindless materialism", while remaining "an untiring pursuer of pseudoscience and irrationality", the "space between a feeling heart and a thinking mind, between a love of the marvelous and a reverence for skeptical truth":

"In the midst of the word he was trying to say,
In the midst of his laughter and glee,
He had softly and suddenly vanished away-
For the Snark was a Boojum, you see."

Our modern world has been redefined by the specter of the Snark as Boojum, perhaps as death or a fear of extinction, a dread of the unknown. With its luxurious illustrations, the annotated poem is followed by a number of interesting pieces: "An Easter Greeting"; "A Commentary by Snarkophilus Snobs"; "The Clue" (a sequel); "Excepts from Henry Holiday's Reminiscences of My Life"; and an extensive bibliography, all in all, a grand adventure into a vast chasm of possibilities. Luan Gaines/2006.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Has anyone really found the Snark?, November 9, 2007

By 

J. Guild (Toronto,Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Annotated Hunting of the Snark (The Annotated Books) (Hardcover)

"Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice:
That alone should encourage the crew.
Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice:
What I tell you three times is true."

This fascinating "Agony in Eight Fits" composed by Lewis Carroll in 1876,is to Literature what a Trompe-l'oeil masterpiece is to the world of Art.Well,maybe only in a way; because once "discovered" in a painting ,the trick of the eye can be seen or understood. Maybe it is more akin to modern art where someone says "this is what the artist is saing" ;and people can say "Yes,I see what he means" ;but there's always something else.
With this poem,there have been countless interpretations and Carroll himself offered more questions than answers ,when asked what it meant.
This book was published as a Centennial Edition and annotated by Martin Gardner;famous for his features in "Scientific American Magazine" as well as a lifetime of interest ,writings and books in Mathematical Recreations.
All the plates as well as original shetches by Henry Holiday and extensive information are tncluded. To complete it all,a complete facsimile of the First Edirion is also included.
Although there has been endless things said and written about this famous work,this edition would be as good a place as any to start in seeing what this poem is all about.
One club,and there have been many,was founded in 1897 and lasted till the last meeing in 1914 on the eve of WWI.The number of members was severely restricted . "The club's eleven rules are so delightfully Snarkish that with the Bellman's permission",they are included in the book.
It is near impossible to write a review on this book other than to say,I spent an afternoon enjoying it,but one could spend a great deal of time studing it and writings about it.
I don't often refer to Reviews by others,but in this case I would be remiss not to note the excellent one written by Luan Gaines"Luansos" on November 6,2006.

"'Once upon a time there was a Boojum--'the Professor began,but stopped suddenly.'I forget the rest of the Fable,' he said.'And there was a lesson to be learned from it. I'm afraid I forget that,too.'"

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Annotated Hunting of the Snark, January 5, 2007

By 

Martin H. Eastburn "Plasma Man" (Lufkin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Annotated Hunting of the Snark (The Annotated Books) (Hardcover)

This is a new version of older works. It has new introductions
and the new preface by Martin Gardner. This new version contains
additional and expanded thoughts on the main work. Being the latest
and greatest version to date.