The original manuscript of Lewis Carroll's classic book 'Alice in Wonderland' is now available in 3-D with audio commentary on the internet.

In the manuscript Carroll included a pencil drawing of seven-year-old Alice Liddell who inspired the book. The author wasn't happy with this so included photos instead. It wasn't until 1977 that the original was discovered underneath the photo. Now all 37 original drawings are included in the 90-page virtual manuscript in the British Library's 'Turning The Pages' collection.

Using Flash Shockwave technology, the manuscript can be virtually 'handled', while audio is played simultaneously. Actress Miriam Margolyes provides the optional commentary.

The technology gives the public a chance to virtually handle works which would otherwise be untouchable inside glass cabinets and the realistic page-turning application won a technical achievement award at the 2005 Learning on Screen Awards in March.

The animations mimic the action of page turning while mouse clicks and scrolling allows the user to view each page as it was originally written in the 19th century. Readers can also magnify the text as well as see the illustrations.

The manuscript, originally entitled 'Alice's Adventures Under Ground' is the latest addition to a series started by the British Library in 1998 with the dark age Lindisfarne Gospels. There are now fourteen works in total available and while some of the others may be of interest to kids, 'Alice' is the first work specifically aimed at children to be put online.

• Concerned about your child's reading ability?
  
• See the manuscript on the British Library site
  
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