A Mad, Modern Tea Party

Members of The Harvard Lampoon, a semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization that used to occasionally publish a so-called humor magazine, treated a room full of attentive audience members to selections from the newly reissued “Alice’s Adventures in Cambridge” at Harvard Book Store last night.

The book was originally written in 1913 by R.C. Evarts, a Lampoon alumnus, as a parody of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.” The Lampoon contributed the foreword to the new edition, which Lampoon President Matthew K. Grzecki ’10 read aloud to the nearly-filled room.

“This is an unbelievably impressive showing,” said Grzecki before delving into selections from the book.

This reissue is based on an original version owned by Gus Sousa, a rare book collector and resident of Salem, Mass.

The ’Poonsters admitted in the foreward that the nearly century-old work might not appeal to readers with more modern tastes, saying that if the work was not their “‘best’ parody,” it was certainly their “most inaccessible.”

“Not that this should stop the well-intentioned, naive reader from making an attempt or giving up actual money for the chance to [read it],” Grzecki read aloud.

The audience laughed along as Grzecki read the book’s surreal second chapter, which featured the Keezer Cat—who offers to buy Alice’s skin— and a mustachioed Humpty Dumpty.

John B. Owen ’10, another Lampoon officer, then took over and read what he claimed was a historical document he found at Widener Library. The work was called “A Guide for the Freshman of this College” and featured rules for proper freshman behavior. It also appeared in a recent issue of the Lampoon.

The Harvard Book Store was pleased to host the event, said Heather Gain, marketing manager of the shop.

“We’re such close neighbors here, just on opposite ends of Plympton Street,” she said of the Lampoon. “It’s great to be able to work with them on a public event.”