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The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll by Stuart Dodgson
Collingwood
The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll by Stuart Dodgson Collingwood
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THE
LIFE AND LETTERS
OF
LEWIS CARROLL
(REV. C. L. DODGSON)
BY
STUART DODGSON COLLINGWOOD
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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
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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;
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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
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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)
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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
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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.
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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)
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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
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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_.
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