The British Library’s Turning the Pages online collection of 14 rare books has recently added Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures Under Ground. The collection is accessible to any internet user with a broadband connection and the Macromedia Shockwave browser plug-in. The 3D-like experience of actually “turning the pages,” zooming in on a specific area of the page, and listening to the accompanying audio commentary by British actress Miriam Margolyes is not to be missed. According to a BBC News report, “In the original Alice manuscript, Carroll included the first sketch of Alice Liddell who provided the inspiration for Alice in his books. It was drawn in pencil from a photo of Alice aged seven but he was not satisfied with the sketch so replaced it with a photo of Alice instead. In 1977, the pencil drawing was rediscovered hidden under the photo. The 90-page virtual manuscript contains all 37 original illustrations.” Other titles in the collection include the Diamond Sutra, at 868 C.E. the earliest, dated, printed book in the world, Jane Austen’s The History of England, and the Sforza Hours, a Renaissance masterpiece. Every one of the 14 works is a priceless window into another world and time. –David C. Murray