The Dodo

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Lewis Carroll’s incorporation of a fictitious Dodo bird into his tale of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland surely served as an introduction to the concept of extinction for children around the world. Though likely not Carroll’s intent, the images drawn by Sir John Tenniel (1820-1914) brought the Dodo back to life through his informed likeness corresponding to Carroll’s writings about its interactions with Alice and other inhabitants of Wonderland. Its proportions and appearance are purported to be based on narratives and imagery produced while specimens were still extant in Mauritius in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Deborah and Alfred Judson Barcan Collection

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898).
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1869.

Lehigh University Catalog Record: https://asa.lib.lehigh.edu/asa/Record/10673742

A version of this text has been digitized and is available through The Internet Archive.

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This humorous alphabet book includes hand-colored linocut illustrations of various species of birds from around the globe, both extant and extinct. Rashley’s whimsical birds are accompanied by "alliterative allegations" by Nyr Indictor.

The Dodo, whose last reported sighting was in the 17th century, is described as a "Dear Departed Dodderer" who "Died out in Disgrace”. This edition of fourteen copies is accompanied by a slip case featuring Rashley’s imagined Dodo bird.

Elizabeth Rashley.
An Avian Alphabet. Church Hanborough, near Witney, Oxford: Inky Parrot Press, 1996.

Lehigh University Catalog Record: https://asa.lib.lehigh.edu/asa/Record/00011875244

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In this artist’s book, Sarah Nicholls presents her interpretations of selected extinct birds and provides text to accompany a series of woodcuts and polymer plates produced in New York at the Center for Book Arts. Included are the Dodo, Labrador Duck, Seychelles Parakeet, Wake Island Rail, Norfolk Island Kaka, Spotted Green Pigeon, Spectacled Cormorant, Tahitian Red Billed Rail, The Great Auk, and Moa Moa, among others.

Sarah Nicholls (Visual artist) (Artist).
A Field Guide to Extinct Birds. [New York]: Sarah Nicholls, 2015.

Lehigh University Catalog Record: https://asa.lib.lehigh.edu/asa/Record/10733076

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Displayed here is a 17th century account of Sir Thomas Herbert, a close associate of the British King Charles I, describing his two years of traveling in Africa and the region then known as Persia. During his travels, Herbert visited Mauritius in 1629 during which he created this illustration of the dodo.

Sir Thomas Herbert (1606-1682).
Some Yeares Travels Into Divers Parts of Asia and Afrique. London: Printed by R. Bip. for I. Blome and R. Bishop, 1638.

Lehigh University Catalog Record: https://asa.lib.lehigh.edu/asa/Record/258379

A version of this text has been digitized and is available through The Internet Archive.