The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll by Stuart Dodgson Collingwood The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll by Stuart Dodgson Collingwood Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Gundry and PG Distributed Proofreaders THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF LEWIS CARROLL (REV. C. L. DODGSON) BY STUART DODGSON COLLINGWOOD page 1 / 481 B.A. CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD 1898 TO THE CHILD FRIENDS OF LEWIS CARROLL AND TO ALL WHO LOVE HIS WRITINGS THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED PREFACE It is with no undue confidence that I have accepted the invitation of the brothers and sisters of Lewis Carroll to write this Memoir. I am well aware that the path of the biographer is beset with pitfalls, and that, for him, _suppressio veri_ is page 2 / 481 almost necessarily _suggestio falsi_--the least omission may distort the whole picture. To write the life of Lewis Carroll as it should be written would tax the powers of a man of far greater experience and insight than I have any pretension to possess, and even he would probably fail to represent adequately such a complex personality. At least I have done my best to justify their choice, and if in any way I have wronged my uncle's memory, unintentionally, I trust that my readers will pardon me. My task has been a delightful one. Intimately as I thought I knew Mr. Dodgson during his life, I seem since his death to have become still better acquainted with him. If this Memoir helps others of his admirers to a fuller knowledge of a man whom to know was to love, I shall not have written in vain. I take this opportunity of thanking those who have so kindly assisted me in my work, and first I must mention my old schoolmaster, the Rev. Watson Hagger, M.A., to whom my readers are indebted for the portions of this book dealing with Mr. Dodgson's mathematical works. I am greatly indebted to Mr. Dodgson's relatives, and to all those kind friends of his and others who have aided me, in so many ways, in my difficult task. In particular, I may mention the names of H.R.H. the Duchess of Albany; Miss Dora Abdy; Mrs. Egerton Allen; Rev. F. H. Atkinson; page 3 / 481 Sir G. Baden-Powell, M.P.; Mr. A. Ball; Rev. T. Vere Bayne; Mrs. Bennie; Miss Blakemore; the Misses Bowman; Mrs. Boyes; Mrs. Bremer; Mrs. Brine; Miss Mary Brown; Mrs. Calverley; Miss Gertrude Chataway; Mrs. Chester; Mr. J. C. Cropper; Mr. Robert Davies; Miss Decima Dodgson; the Misses Dymes; Mrs. Eschwege; Mrs. Fuller; Mr. Harry Furniss; Rev. C. A. Goodhart; Mrs. Hargreaves; Miss Rose Harrison; Mr. Henry Holiday; Rev. H. Hopley; Miss Florence Jackson; Rev. A. Kingston; Mrs. Kitchin; Mrs. Freiligrath Kroeker; Mr. F. Madan; Mrs. Maitland; Miss M. E. Manners; Miss Adelaide Paine; Mrs. Porter; Miss Edith Rix; Rev. C. J. Robinson, D.D.; Mr. S. Rogers; Mrs. Round; Miss Isabel Standen; Mr. L. Sergeant; Miss Gaynor Simpson; Mrs. Southwall; Sir John Tenniel; Miss E. Gertrude Thomson; Mrs. Woodhouse; and Mrs. Wyper. For their help in the work of compiling the Bibliographical chapter and some other parts of the book, my thanks are due to Mr. E. Baxter, Oxford; the Controller of the University Press, Oxford; Mr. A. J. Lawrence, Rugby; Messrs. Macmillan and Co., London; Mr. James Parker, Oxford; and Messrs. Ward, Lock and Co., London. In the extracts which I have given from Mr. Dodgson's Journal and Correspondence it will be noticed that Italics have been somewhat freely employed to represent the words which he underlined. The use of Italics was so marked a feature of his literary style, as any one who has read his books must have page 4 / 481 observed, that without their aid the rhetorical effect, which he always strove to produce, would have been seriously marred. S. DODGSON COLLINGWOOD GUILDFORD, _September_, 1898. CONTENTS PREFACE LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS CHAPTER I (1832-1850) Lewis Carroll's forebears--The Bishop of Elphin--Murder of Captain Dodgson--Daresbury--Living in "Wonderland"--Croft--Boyish amusements--His first school--Latin verses--A good report--He goes to Rugby--_The Rectory Umbrella_--"A Lay of Sorrow" CHAPTER II (1850-1860) page 5 / 481 Matriculation at Christ Church--Death of Mrs. Dodgson--The Great Exhibition--University and College Honours--A wonderful year--A theatrical treat--_Misch-Masch_--_The Train_--_College Rhymes_--His _nom de plume_--"Dotheboys Hall"--Alfred Tennyson--Ordination--Sermons--A visit to Farringford--"Where does the day begin?"--The Queen visits Oxford CHAPTER III (1861-1867) Jowett--Index to "In Memoriam"--The Tennysons--The beginning of "Alice"--Tenniel--Artistic friends--"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"--"Bruno's Revenge"--Tour with Dr. Liddon--Cologne--Berlin architecture--The "Majesty of Justice"--Peterhof--Moscow--A Russian wedding--Nijni--The Troitska Monastery--"Hieroglyphic" writing--Giessen CHAPTER IV (1868-1876) Death of Archdeacon Dodgson--Lewis Carroll's rooms at Christ Church--"Phantasmagoria"--Translations of "Alice"--"Through page 6 / 481 the Looking-Glass"--"Jabberwocky" in Latin--C.S. Calverley--"Notes by an Oxford Chiel"--Hatfield--Vivisection--"The Hunting of the Snark" CHAPTER V (1877-1883) Dramatic tastes--Miss Ellen Terry--"Natural Science at Oxford"--Mr. Dodgson as an artist--Miss E.G. Thomson--The drawing of children--A curious dream--"The Deserted Parks"--"Syzygies"--Circus children--Row-loving undergraduates--A letter to _The Observer_--Resignation of the Lectureship--He is elected Curator of the Common Room--Dream-music. CHAPTER VI (1883-1887) "The Profits of Authorship"--"Rhyme? and Reason?"--The Common Room Cat--Visit to Jersey--Purity of elections--Parliamentary Representation--Various literary projects--Letters to Miss E. Rix--Being happy--"A Tangled Tale"--Religious arguments--The "Alice" Operetta--"Alice's Adventures Underground"--"The Game of Logic"--Mr. Harry Furniss. page 7 / 481 CHAPTER VII (1888-1891) A systematic life--"Memoria Technica"--Mr. Dodgson's shyness--"A Lesson in Latin"--The "Wonderland" Stamp-Case--"Wise Words about Letter-Writing"--Princess Alice--"Sylvie and Bruno"--"The night cometh"--"The Nursery 'Alice'"--Coventry Patmore--Telepathy--Resignation of Dr. Liddell--A letter about Logic. CHAPTER VIII (1892-1896) Mr. Dodgson resigns the Curatorship--Bazaars--He lectures to children--A mechanical "Humpty Dumpty"--A logical controversy--Albert Chevalier--"Sylvie and Bruno Concluded"--"Pillow Problems"--Mr. Dodgson's generosity--College services--Religious difficulties--A village sermon--Plans for the future--Reverence--"Symbolic Logic" CHAPTER IX (1897-1898) page 8 / 481 Logic-lectures--Irreverent anecdotes--Tolerance of his religious views--A mathematical discovery--"The Little Minister"--Sir George Baden-Powell--Last illness--"Thy will be done"--"Wonderland" at last!--Letters from friends--"Three Sunsets"--"Of such is the kingdom of Heaven" CHAPTER X CHILD FRIENDS Mr. Dodgson's fondness for children--Miss Isabel Standen--Puzzles--"Me and Myself"--A double acrostic--"Father William"--Of drinking healths--Kisses by post--Tired in the face--The unripe plum--Eccentricities--"Sylvie and Bruno"--"Mr. Dodgson is going on _well_" CHAPTER XI THE SAME--_continued._ Books for children--"The Lost Plum-Cake"--"An Unexpected Guest"--Miss Isa Bowman--Interviews--"Matilda Jane"--Miss Edith Rix--Miss Kathleen Eschwege BIBLIOGRAPHY page 9 / 481 INDEX FOOTNOTES * * * * * LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS LEWIS CARROLL--Frontispiece _From a photograph_. ARCHDEACON DODGSON AS A YOUNG MAN _From a miniature, painted about_ 1826. DARESBURY PARSONAGE, LEWIS CARROLL'S BIRTHPLACE _From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_. LEWIS CARROLL, AGED 8 _From a silhouette_. MRS. DODGSON, LEWIS CARROLL'S MOTHER _From a silhouette_. page 10 / 481