The Complete Alice in Wonderland (Wonderland Imprints Master Editions)

by Lewis Carroll

  PART XII

  BEYOND WONDERLAND

  In Retrospect: Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson)

  CHARLES LUTWIDGE DODGSON was certainly one of the most interesting people living in a very interesting time. He was born on January 27, 1832 in a rural parsonage known as Daresbury (near Warrington, Cheshire). His father was a man of the church and his mother was a very loving housewife. Charles had a difficult education in Rugby School, where he may have formed a permanent ill opinion of boys (as opposed to girls). He later went to Oxford, and attended his father’s old college, Christ Church.

  Charles had many eccentric friends at school, including Robinson Duckworth. But he preferred the company of children, of whom the most famous to be remembered is Alice Liddell. (The years relating to Alice and the creation of her stories are explained in more detail in the chronology, later in this section.)

  Charles was not only a writer of children’s tales, however. In fact, he was quite reclusive and often embarrassed to be known as “the author of Alice,” which led not only to the separation of himself from his pen name, but also to deeper studies in his chosen fields of serious endeavor. Charles was a noted mathematician, logician, inventor, critic, and systems analyst. He loved the theater, games, puzzles, traveling, laughter and adventure. After a long, inspiring and thoroughly eventful life, he died unmarried in 1898.

  This capsule biography is shamefully brief; Lewis Carroll was one of the most complex and mysterious figures of the 19th century. There are many excellent biographies of the man, of which I primarily recommend Lewis Carroll: A Biography, by Morton N. Cohen; Lewis Carroll: An Illustrated Biography, by Derek Hudgson; and Lewis Carroll and His World, by John Pudney.

  In Retrospect: Alice Liddell

  ALICE PLEASANCE LIDDELL was born on May 4, 1852. Her father was Henry Liddell, an esteemed scholar who would later become the Dean of Christ Church College in Oxford. Her mother was Lorina Hanna Liddell, a beautiful and strong-willed woman who did much to shape the social destinies of her children. Alice had two surviving elder siblings: a brother Harry, and her sister Lorina.

  When Alice was born, her father was working as the Headmaster of Westminster School. When her father was appointed as Dean, the family moved to Oxford, where she met Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll). Alice and her sisters had many adventures, exploring the wondrous grounds of Christ Church and the many meadows along the River Isis. This time in her life, when her explorations were often guided by Carroll and his friends, is further detailed in the chronology of the “Alice” stories (which follows hereafter).

  As one of several intelligent and educated daughters of an esteemed and well-traveled family, Alice had many escapades and journeys in the years following her “golden childhood.” She was taught to paint and draw by the famous artist, architect and romanticist, John Ruskin. She met Prince Leopold (one of the sons of Queen Victoria), and may have even had a romantic interest in him. Edith, Lorina and Alice also went on the Grand Tour, exploring the European continent, absorbing the culture and learning all the while.

  Alice eventually married a gentleman named Reginald Hargreaves. They had three handsome sons, Alan, Leopold and Caryl. After a long and happy life together, Reginald passed away. Alice, pressed into hard financial times, was forced to sell her unique manuscript copy of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground. The Sotheby’s auction of the book caused a nationwide sensation, as the bids reached the stratospheric sum of 15,400 pounds. (The book was later returned to England as a national treasure.) This auction not only solved Alice’s financial difficulties; it also made the reclusive “real” Alice (again) something of a worldwide celebrity.

  In 1932, the centenary of the birth of Lewis Carroll was celebrated, and Alice was invited to a great celebration at Columbia University in the United States. There she enjoyed an orchestral suite of “Alice in Wonderland” set to music, and was presented with an honorary doctorate. The eighty-year-old Alice was quite tickled to see all of the fuss over little old her, and clearly enjoyed herself, as the surviving newsreels of the event reveal to us.

  Alice passed away peacefully in 1934.

  The best books (in my opinion) detailing the wonderful life of Alice Pleasance Liddell are The Real Alice, by Anne Clark; and Beyond the Looking-Glass: Reflections of Alice and Her Family, by Colin Gordon.

  A Detailed Chronology of the “Alice” Stories

  Compiled by Kent David Kelly

  THE FOLLOWING extensive (but by no means exhaustive!) timeline is intended to summarize not only the publication of the Alice books, but also the events in Carroll’s life which directly informed his creative process in writing them. Allusions to specific characters and episodes are detailed hereafter in parenthetical annotations.

  It is hoped that this chronological approach to Carroll’s development of the stories will allow the reader some deeper understanding of how Carroll’s life, and his ever-changing relationship with Alice Liddell, governed the inclusion of particular themes and caricatures throughout the stories themselves.

  Of all of the essays I have written for this work, this chronology has been by far the most demanding. If any Carrollian scholars would care to provide corrections, clarifications, or further entries of particular interest, I would be grateful for the assistance!

  To date, however, this is certainly one of the fuller chronologies of the “Alice” stories in the world. I hope that you find it interesting. Read on, ponder, and enjoy!

  January 27, 1832: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson is born.

  1846: Edward Lear (using the pseudonym Derry Down Derry) publishes A Book of Nonsense. This work likely had a significant influence on Carroll’s own literary style.

  1846: “The Shepherd of the Giant Mountains,” by Friedrich de la Motte Foqué, is translated into English by Menella Bute Smedley (a relative of Carroll). This tale, about a gryphon slayer who returns to be praised by a duke, may inspire Carroll to write his “Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry” (and therefore “Jabberwocky”).

  1848: The English Struwwelpeter, by Heinrich Hoffman, is published. This darkly humorous work, with its subversive descriptions of grim punishments suffered by unruly children, was certainly one of Carroll’s inspirations. (It is strongly alluded to when Alice is considering whether the “Drink Me” bottle is filled with poison.)

  May 4, 1852: Alice Pleasance Liddell is born.

  February, 1855: Carroll meets the new Dean, Henry Liddell (Alice’s father). (Mr. Liddell will later be the inspiration for the Crab of the Underwater School in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.)

  August, 1855: Carroll reads Tennyson’s “Maud” (which he will later allude to in The Garden of Live Flowers chapter of Through the Looking-Glass).

  September 8, 1855: The Comic Times publishes Dodgson’s poem, “She’s All My Fancy Painted Him,” which will later appear in a revised form in the trial scene of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

  Late 1855?: Dodgson writes “A Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry,” which will later become the first verse of “Jabberwocky.”

  February 9, 1856: Carroll writes the following in his diary, which seems to presage the tale he will tell in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: “Query: when we are dreaming and, as often happens, have a dim consciousness of the fact and try to wake, do we not say and do things which in waking life would be insane? May we not then sometimes define insanity as an inability to distinguish which is the waking and which the sleeping life? We often dream without the least suspicion of unreality: ‘sleep hath its own world,’ and it is often as lifelike as the other.”

  February 11 to March 1, 1856: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson creates the nom de plume by which the world will always know him, Lewis (Lutwidge/Ludovicus) Carroll (Charles/Carolus).

  February 25, 1856: Dodgson meets the Liddell family at the Oxford boat races.

  March 6, 1856: Carroll makes friends with Harry Liddell, Alice’s brother. (Harry may be the model of the Jabberwock slayer in “Jabberwocky,” compar
ing his pose in one of Carroll’s photographs; but this is speculation.)

  March 8, 1856: Carroll makes friends with Lorina Liddell, Alice’s elder sister. (Lorina is featured in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as the sister on the bank, the Lory, and Elsie.)

  April 25, 1856: Carroll meets young Alice Pleasance.

  Late April?, 1856: Carroll first photographs the Liddell sisters in the Deanery garden. (This garden would later be the inspiration for the croquet-ground in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.)

  October, 1856: Carroll publishes the poem “Upon the Lonely Moor,” which will later become the song of the White Knight in Through the Looking-Glass.

  November 3, 1856: Carroll meets the governess of the Liddell children, Miss Prickett. (Miss Prickett is probably the model for the Red Queen in Through the Looking-Glass, considering Carroll’s comments on the nature and demeanor of governesses.)

  September, 1857 and April, 1859: Carroll meets the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. (Arguably, Carroll may have been inspired to create the peculiar format of his later poem, “The Mouse’s Tale,” due to a curious discussion with Tennyson. His meeting with Tennyson’s son Hallam may have inspired the later portrayal of the Jabberwock slayer. More likely, the Bellman as illustrated in Carroll’s later book The Hunting of the Snark may be a caricature of Tennyson.)

  October, 1857: Carroll meets the artist John Ruskin. (Ruskin will later appear as the Conger Eel, teaching fainting in coils (painting in oils), in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.)

  1858: Phantastes, by George MacDonald, is published. Some of the elements of this story (such a person falling asleep and waking in Fairy Land) would probably inspire Carroll in his improvised storytelling of the first “Alice” stories.

  1858: Carroll creates a photograph featuring undergraduate Quentin Twiss, dressed as “the Artful Dodger.” This portrayal (arguably) may have influenced his direction to Tenniel in the later design and illustration of the Hatter in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

  November 24, 1859: Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species. (As a veiled jest in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, an intelligent monkey will appear in the background of the illustration featuring Alice speaking with the Dodo at the Pool of Tears.)

  November, 1860: A discussion in the month’s issue of Notes and Queries (likely read by Carroll, a follower) features a discussion on the origin of the phrase “to grin like a Cheshire-Cat.”

  December 12, 1860: Carroll meets Queen Victoria and members of the Royal Family. (Carroll’s fixation on tales concerning queens, such as the “Alice” stories, may have been a result of the great importance he placed on this meeting.)

  Late December?, 1861: Following his ordination, Carroll struggles to control his worsening stammer. (This affliction likely led to him portraying himself as the Dodo in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, since his own pronunciation of his last name was often “Do-Do-Dodgson.”)

  June 27, 1862: During a boating trip, Carroll and the Liddell sisters are caught in the rain. (This episode is alluded to in Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, and more distantly in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, when Alice complains about trying to become dry after swimming in the Pool of Tears.)

  July 4, 1862: Carroll and his friend, Robinson Duckworth (known as “the Duck”), take the Liddell sisters up the river Isis on a boating adventure. While rowing, Carroll improvises a story, which will later become Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alice asks Carroll to write the story down.

  August 1, 1862: Carroll listens to the Liddell sisters perform the song “Beautiful Star.” (This will later be parodied in the Mock Turtle’s song, “Beautiful Soup”.)

  November 13, 1862: Carroll begins formally writing down Alice’s adventures.

  February 10, 1863: By this time, Carroll has completed the manuscript for Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, the first version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. His illustrations, however, are not yet complete.

  March 10, 1863: Carroll takes Alice to see the fireworks and illuminations conducted to celebrate the marriage of the Prince of Wales to Princess Alexandra in Denmark. (Some of the pageantry of this event will later be included in the royal feast episode of the Red Queen in Through the Looking-Glass.)

  April 15, 1863: Carroll takes a train journey with Miss Prickett and the Liddell children. (This episode will later be referenced in the train chapter of Through the Looking-Glass.)

  March, 1863: Carroll writes a dedicatory poem entitled “Life’s ‘Pleasance’” that will later become the prefatory poem in Through the Looking-Glass.

  May 9, 1863: Carroll presents the manuscript of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground to his friend, the author George MacDonald. Based on the enthusiastic reception of the work by MacDonald’s children, Carroll considers publication.

  June 27, 1863: Carroll and Mrs. Liddell suffer some form of social mishap (rumored to relate to Carroll’s perceived interest in the Liddell girls, and speculation among uninformed observers). Carroll and Alice may have been forbidden to see one another at this time.

  October 19, 1863: Carroll inquires with Macmillan about publishing Alice’s Adventures Under Ground. The publisher expresses interest.

  October 1863: Robinson Duckworth encourages Carroll to speak to John Tenniel (the cartoonist for Punch) about creating illustrations for a published version of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground.

  December 20, 1863: Carroll writes to his friend Tom Taylor, seeking a referral to (and possible meeting with) John Tenniel to discuss an illustration proposal.

  1863 to 1864: Carroll develops the Under Ground manuscript for potential publication.

  January 25, 1864: Carroll is introduced to John Tenniel. At this time, he may have asked Tenniel to consider drawing the illustrations for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

  April 5, 1864: Tenniel agrees to illustrate Carroll’s work for publication.

  June 10, 1864: Carroll writes to Tom Taylor, asking assistance in titling the to-be-published version of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground. Titles proposed include:

  Alice Among the Elves

  Alice Among the Goblins

  Alice’s Hour in Elf-Land

  Alice’s Doings in Elf-Land

  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

  June to November, 1864: Extensive letters go between Carroll, Macmillan and Tenniel as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is prepared for publication.

  September 13, 1864: Carroll completes his illustrations for Alice’s Adventures Under Ground.

  November 26, 1864: Carroll presents the uniquely written and illustrated manuscript of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground to Alice Liddell.

  May?, 1865: Tenniel completes his illustrations for the book.

  June to July, 1865: The Clarendon Press prints 2,000 copies of the first edition.

  July 20 to August, 1865: Printing problems with the first edition cause it to be immediately withdrawn.

  November 9, 1865: The new edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, with corrected printing, is released.

  November 12 to December, 1865: Glowing reviews help to drive sales of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for the Christmas season.

  December 14, 1865: Carroll sends a bound copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to Alice Liddell.

  Early 1866: The book becomes instantly famous, and speculation about the author becomes rampant. Carroll (Dodgson) remains in relative seclusion.

  August 24, 1866: Carroll considers writing a sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, but sends a letter indicating to Macmillan that he will not complete it for some time. He discusses the matter with Tenniel, but Tenniel declines the offer of illustration.

  Winter, 1866: Carroll writes the first pages to the “Alice” sequel.

  December 15, 1867: While the writing is slow and sporadic, Carroll writes to a friend that the “Alice” sequel, tentatively titled Alice’s Visit to Looking-Glass House, is “getting on pretty well.”

  Apri
l to June 18, 1868: Carroll, through repeated urgings, finally convinces Tenniel to develop illustrations for the Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland sequel.

  June?, 1868: Carroll begins writing the Alice sequel (possibly including notes developed in 1866 and 1867, as well as consideration of older poems).

  August, 1868?: Carroll has a conversation about mirror images with a young lady named Alice Raikes; the interesting themes raised at this time are incorporated into the conception of the Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland sequel.

  January 12, 1869: Carroll sends the first completed chapter of the “Alice” sequel (then tentatively titled Behind the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Saw There) to Macmillan for consideration.

  1869: Alice’s Abenteueur im Wunderland, a German translation, is published (the first of many foreign editions, which are beyond the scope of this authorial chronology).

  January 4, 1870: Carroll completes the manuscript for Through the Looking-Glass.

  June 1, 1870: In a letter, Tenniel encourages Carroll to drop the Wasp in a Wig chapter from Through the Looking-Glass. Carroll takes his advice.

  Late 1869 to Fall, 1871: Throughout this time period, Tenniel creates the illustrations for the “Alice” sequel.

  March, 1871: Carroll, concerned about the nightmarish quality of Tenniel’s Jabberwock illustration, asks that the illustration be moved from being the frontispiece to the interior of the book.

  August, 1871: By this time, Carroll has completed the text of the Alice sequel, but is still waiting for the last of the Tenniel illustrations.

  November, 1871: By this time, Through the Looking-Glass is finally being printed.

  December, 1871: Macmillan & Co. publishes Carroll’s Alice sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (dated 1872).