While Genette places translation among the paratexts of the original work, something that Tahir Gürçaglar (2002:46) takes exception to as it ‘disempowers the translator’ and relegates the target text (TT) to a derivative status, this article will argue that it is the source text (ST) that in fact becomes one of the many paratextual elements for the subsequent translation and that each successive translation adds to what Genette terms the épitexte. The field is vast and extremely varied: the investigation will be limited to Italian translations of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, analyzing a variety of paratextual elements and their influence on the reception of Carroll’s work in Italy (the text under fascism, as publishing phenomenon, etc.) but with specific reference to Aldo Busi’s translation (1988), one of the most commercially successful, judged by many to be every bit as controversial as Busi himself, establishing how the reputation of the translator becomes a paratextual elements in itself, informing the reader of the TT. This article holds that paratextual elements such as TV appearances, interviews, scandals, reputations can inform (translated) texts whether they are antérieur or ultérieur to use Genette’s terminology.