Lewis Carroll in Wonderland and at Home
eldest son was made a student of Christ College-a good large slice out of a birthday-cake-twenty candles-if one counts birthdays by candles. It's a charming old German fashion, for the old
we shall see later. He wrote letters backward, he told stories backward, he spelled and counted backward-in fact, he was so fond of doing things backward we do not wonder that he
orth to the world-a world which at first consisted of Croft Rectory-for there was another and last family magazine, of which he was sole editor and composer. He named it Misch
sch-Masch and the days of The Rectory Umbrella, having been editor of College Rhymes, his college paper. He also wrote stories for the Oxonian Adver
rm, of a tangle of intersecting lines and angles containing a hidden pathway to the center. These designs, that seem so
from one of Keats's poems. "She did so-but 'tis doubtful how or whence." The picture represents a very fat old lady, with a capitally drawn pla
account of these early editorial efforts, in an article written for the
he shade of that much neglected songster owes something to a p
ss the lake was her shortest way home. We are to suppose that for some time she proceeded without any knowledge of the risk she was running, when suddenly she felt the ice giving way under her. By frantic exertions she succeeded in reaching the notice-board, to which she
t 'tis doubtful
ingwood
estion naturally suggests itself: Why was she not rescued? My answer is that either such a dense fog enveloped the whole neighborhood that even
or of Misch-Masch presented to his readers; there must be an answer, and it is therefor
nt, men
all si
half-hin
tail remov
f all you st
head-the st
my tail
n, in 1856, and the quiet Oxford "don" found his poetry in such demand that after talking it over with the editor, he decided to adopt a suitable pen name. He first suggested "Dares" in compliment to his birthplace, Daresbury, but the editor preferred a real name. Then he took his first two names, Charles Lutwidge, and transposing them he got two names, Edgar Cuthwellis or Edgar U. C. Westhill, neither of which sounded in the least interesting. Finally he decided to take the two names and look at them backward-this very queer
red to his rooms at Christ Church College, where he prepared his lectures on mathematics and wrote the most learned text-books for the University; but Lewis
The Train was really very ambitious, full, indeed, of the best talent of the day. There were short stories and serials, poems, timely articles, jokes, puns, anecdates-in short, all the attractions that help toward
ed away in some cubby-hole and made use of later in one or the ot
FAN
her a gush
s perhaps
ought to fi
t a doz
ave her ey
y aubu
find the b
rn turne
my ears th
ngled v
t I could
at light
u were to
s might b
t have the
t a few
bear's eth
d hyena'
tep of th
of the
r still,
art its pa
my fancy p
how much
Lewis Carroll's drawings generally followed his thoughts; a pencil and bit of paper were always ready in some inner pocket, for illustrating purposes, and it is doubtful if any celebrated artist could produce more sketches on such a variety of subjects. His power to make his pencil "talk" impressed his sisters and brothers greatly; they caught every scrap of paper that fluttered from his hands, treasured it, and if the drawing was distinct enough, they colored it with crayons
of patience, but he made his camera such a point of attraction for the youngsters that he could "take" them as often as he liked, and he has left behind him a wonderful array of photographs, many of well-known, even celebrated people, among whom we may find Tennyson, the Rossetti family, Ellen and Kate Terry, John Ruskin, George Macdonald, Charlotte M. Yonge, Sir John Millais, and many others known to fame; and considering that photography had not reached its present perfection, Lewis Carroll's pho
'S PHOTO
logy to Mr.
shoulde
camera of
ding, foldi
t it all
se it lay
to nearly
ened out
lled the join
d all squares
omplicat
cond book
rched upon
neath its d
s hand, enfo
otionless,
ful was th
family
him for the
rn, as he
d his own
nious su
e poem succeeded in driving poor Hia
y my H
l the trib
not the righ
py chance w
st obtain
faces all
ut a perfec
oined and a
inedly a
st and ugli
ossibly have
··
er rang th
d, discord
that howl
that wail
awatha's
ness and h
ably had
ft that h
he leave t
calm deli
nse deli
tographi
ft them i
in a mig
t he would
n emphati
e before he
he packed
the port
row all
he took
he train re
parted
oem is the seemingly innocent paragraph
htest ear for rhythm, could compose, for hours together, in the easy running meter of 'The Song of Hiawatha.' Having, then, distinctly stated that I challenge
o the Hiawatha pitch and you will have the s
re would have been no difficulty, but he always had strained relations with boys; still, as these "roundabouts" belonged to the little Tennysons, we find a sort of armed truce kept up between them. He bargained with Lionel to exchange manuscripts, and he got both boys to sign their names in his album; he even condescended to play
y, in which Charles Dodgson was deeply interested. His medical knowledge was quite remarkable, and the books he collected on the subject would have been valuable additions to any physician's library. In the year 1857 h
the morrow's work. Lewis Carroll kept a diary which harbored many fine thoughts and noble resolves, many doubts and fears, many hopes, many plans for the future,
is hearers. The other objection lay in the fact that Christ Church had rigid laws for its clergy concerning amusements. Charles Dodgson had no wish to be shut out of the world; he was fond of theaters and operas, and he did not see that he was doing any speci
ecial favor to Dean Liddell, who had for many years been chaplain to Queen Victoria and her husband, the Prince Consort. Of course there was much ceremony attending the arrival of his Royal Highness; the Dean went in person to the station to meet him, and all the "dons" were
into a gala occasion. There was a brilliant reception that evening at Dean Liddell's and tableaux vivants, to which we may be sure our modest Lewis Carroll gave much assistance. He was already
rded the pleasant-looking, chatty young fellow as just one of the college "dons"; he had never even heard of Lewis Carroll, indeed that gentleman was too newly born to be known very well anywhere outside of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson's study, and
t carried to the excess that it was later on, and is to-day. It is, to put it mildly, a very bad habit. Total strangers
e was held by the foremost men and women of his time. To him a letter or a sentiment would have had no meaning nor value if not addressed personally to himself; whereas, the autograph fiend of the present day would b
the eyes, deep blue, looked childlike in their innocent trust; a child had but to gaze into their depths and claim a friend. Little girls, particularly, remembered their beauty, for they felt a thrill at their youthful heartstrings when those eyes, brimful of kindliness, turned upon them and warmed their childish souls. They were quick to feel the gentle
isters. Naturally they did not look upon him with the awe of the later generation, but they broug
ed from the very beginning, in all its stages, and so it is small wonder that he knew girls quite as well as he
ly from his duty as a Student of Christ Church, but more because of the influence it would give him among the undergraduates, whose welfare he had so much at he
and he was content if they bore good fruit; he did not care what people said about them. He often preached at the evening service for the college servants; but most of all he loved to preach to children, to see the earnest young faces upturned to him, t
y of Fairyland. He had often peeped through the closed gates but he had never been able to squeeze through; he m
olarships which paid him a small yearly sum, and he was also sublibrarian. His little poems were making their way into public notice and his more seriou
hor of many books, among them "At the Back of the North Wind," a most charming fairy tale. These two children, a boy and a girl, instantly made friends with Lewis Carroll, who suggested to the boy, Greville, that he thought a marble head would be such a useful thing, much better than a real one because it would not have to be brushed and combed. This appealed to the small boy, whose long hair was a torment, but after consideration he decided that a marble head would not be able to speak, and it was better to
s were at that time his special favorites; their bright companionship brought forth the many sides of his genius; under the spell of their winsome ch
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