Lewis Carrol

I love Lewis Carrol, or Charles Dodgson if you go by his real name. He was actually the subject of my grade twelve history paper. The man was just so fascinating! Not only did he write one of the most famous stories of all time, he was a mathematician who taught at Oxford, one of the best amateur photographers in his day, and a great friend to children. Dodgson's diversity and imagination astounds me.

     Early Life

Charles Dodgson was born January 27, 1832 as the third child (first son) of what would be a family of thirteen. His father was a parson, and Charles grew up in a loving, supportive home. As a child, he loved entertaining his siblings with games, puzzles, and his own little newspaper. Dodgson's mathematical mind, like his father's, was very developed, so in 1851 he enrolled in Oxford at Christ Church college. After his initial schooling, he received the Christ Church Mathematical Lectureship which would be his career for the next 26 years.

     Writing Career

Dodgson had published several books about mathematics and logic under his given name, but beneath that analytical mind lay a great imagination. He began writing poems and short stories for newspapers under pseudonyms. The very first work to be published under the name that would be ever-linked to his fame was a poem titled "Solitude" that appeared in a magazine. But it was not until he met Henry Liddell and his family, including his daughter Alice, that the great world of Wonderland would come to be.

     Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Dodgson was a quiet, slightly odd man. He was always a child at heart, and enjoyed spending time with children more than adults, particularly little girls. Now, do not say anything improper about these relationships, for those rumours are complete nonsense. Dodgson's friendships with children were just that: friendships. Even in his photography, which mainly contained photos of young girls, he always consulted the mothers and ensured that the children did nothing that made them uncomfortable. The art of nude child photography was popular in the day, and Dodgson would always provide mothers with the photos, or burn them if they were unwanted. So now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk about Alice Liddell.

Alice, along with her elder sister Lorina and her little sister Edith, were great friends with Charles. One day, while he accompanied the Liddells on a riverboat ride, he saw that the girls were extremely bored. To entertain them, he began telling the story of "Alice's Adventures Underground". The children loved the story, especially Alice, who begged for Dodgson to write it down. After a great deal of pleading, Dodgson wrote out the story, including some little illustrations of his own, and presented it to Alice. Much later, a publishing friend of Dodgson's came across the little manuscript and encouraged him to publish it. The rest, you might say, is history. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published in 1865 and has been a best-seller ever since.

Charles Dodgson wasn't just an imaginative author. He was a great friend to those around him, an ingenious scholar and lecturer, as well as an artistic photographer. Even though he is most remembered for his brilliant masterpiece under the name Carrol, there is so much more we should appreciate about his life. Dodgson succumbed to pneumonia on January 14, 1898, but he lives on through the adventures of a little girl with a great imagination.

   

  Sources

http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/carroll/bio1.html