I recently aquired several older books, most of which are easy to
date. However, a copy of Alice in Wonderland has been difficult to
confirm a date of publication.

The title as listed on the front cover is: "Alice in Wonderland and
Through the Looking-Glass" with a notation of "Illustrated" on the
bottom. The front cover is hard bound, perhaps 5 3'4" across and 8"
tall. The rabbit is holding his umbrella (on the left of the cover)
and facing Alice (on the right kneeling facing the rabbit).  The cover
is primarly a green color, with Alice's dress and the rabbit a blue
color. The book is 274 pages in length.

The title page has the title as follows:

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland And Through the Looking-Glass And
What Alice Found There
By Lewis Carroll
Profusely Illustrated by John Tenniel
New York - Hurst and Company - Publishers

I have found copies published of Alice around 1902 by Hurst.. but am
unsure when the date of the combined stories was released, or if this
is accurate. I am also unsure of what other information might helpful
to identify this publication.  I am looking for a date if known, and
if available, any recent copies that (have been/are being) sold to help
estimate a value.

Hello.

The date of the book is circa 1903.

Harvard University owns a copy of the edition that you describe:

Author :  Carroll, Lewis, 1832-1898.
Title : Alice's adventures in Wonderland ; and, Through the
looking-glass and what Alice found there / by Lewis Carroll ;
profusely illustrated by John Tenniel.
Published : New York : Hurst, [1903?]
...
Description : 274 p., [6] leaves of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 21 cm.
HOLLIS Number : 005175850

source: Harvard's Hollis Catalog
http://holliscatalog.harvard.edu
[to retrieve the catalog entry for the book, go to the "Keyword
Search" section; select "HOLLIS number" from the list; enter 
005175850 in search box, and press the "search" button]

-------------

As for estimated value, a book dealer called Ralph Sims Rare Books has
a copy of this edition for sale for $74.95 on Alibris :

"Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (Illustrated)
by Carroll, Lewis.
First Thus. Decorative Cloth. Hurst and Company, New York (1900) 
...
description
Tenniel, John. Fair. No Jacket 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. No date, ca.
1900; decorative light blue-green cloth binding with ornate lettering
and picture of Alice and Rabbit on front cover; gilt title and
pictorial Alice in blue dress on spine. Cover is imprinted and
illustrations are not on a pastedown. "Profusely illustrated by John
Tenniel"; Tenniel's black and white line drawings as well as colored
"chromolithograph-style" plates. The cover is worn and dirty.
Internally, the book is in fair shape with smudges and and some
splitting internally. "
Source: Alibris.com
[note that an obviously cover photo and an unrelated synopsis somehow
were attached to this listing]
http://www.alibris.com/search/detail.cfm?chunk=25&query=profusely%20illustrated%20by%20John%20Tenniel&S=R&bid=8079958780&pqtynew=&page=1&matches=6&qsort=r

On his web site, Mr Sims indicates that he is a Lewis Carroll
collector with 400 copies of "Alice." As such, he might be a good
person to talk to about your edition. Contact information at:
http://www.ralphsimsrarebooks.com/

search strategy:
library catalogs,
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland And Through the Looking-Glass And
What Alice Found There", hurst
alibris.com, profusely illustrated tenniel

I hope this helps.

---

Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 24 Jul 2003 01:02 PDT

I meant to say that the cover photo on Alibris was  "obviously
related" to the Hurst edition.

---

Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 24 Jul 2003 01:04 PDT

Maybe the third time will be the charm:
"...obviously UNrelated"

Excellent work, if Harvard doesn't know the exact date either, I don't
feel as bad. Thank you for the additional information regarding sales
of this book.

Thank you for the tip.
-juggler