The Invisible Man: Sir John Tenniel as Lewis Carroll’s Illustrator

Illustration is the marriage of two very separate arts - words and images, author and artist - and they are generally two separate people. How does the illustrator enter the mind of the author? John Tenniel’s and Lewis Carroll’s collaboration has been described as the most perfect in the history of book illustration.

The images seem inevitable. It’s said that’s because Carroll had the imagination and Tenniel was a drudge who in effect traced over his words to make what had to be, but it’s much more complicated than that. That certainty comes from the great illustrator’s willingness to submit entirely to their text. In the process they become invisible.

Presented by Roger Simpson. Roger was born in 1951 in Hampshire, grew up in Canada and has a BFA in studio art, an MA in History in Art and a PhD in History of Art. He is rthe author of Sir John Tenniel, Aspects of his Work (Associated University Presses, 1994).