Jabberwocky and Other Nonsense

by Lewis Carroll

  IV.

  Answer: I-magi-nation.

  Fame’s Penny-Trumpet

  This poem is particularly directed against experimenters using vivisection. In 1875 LC published a letter in the Pall Mall Gazette (12 February), and his powerful anti-vivisectionist article “Some Popular Fallacies about Vivisection” in Fortnightly Review in June (xvii (n.s.), pp. 847–54) was also published under the name “Lewis Carroll”, despite his distaste for mingling his private person and career with that of his pseudonym.

  First privately printed in 1876, signed “An Unendowed Researcher, July 1876”.

  A Tangled Tale (1885)

  A Tangled Tale

  Illustrated by Arthur B. Frost. “Excelsior”: the first “knot” or mathematical problem (the hill and the tangled knot). See also note to “To my Pupil”.

  Three Sunsets and Other Poems (1898)

  This collection appeared posthumously after LC’s unexpected death at the age of 65 in January 1898. Almost all the poems had been previously published: some in the second, serious part of Phantasmagoria, two in Sylvie and Bruno, one in Jabberwock in 1888. The only newly published items were the two acrostics “Puck Lost and Found” from 1891. The illustrations “Twelve Fairy-Fancies by E. Gertrude Thomson” are not tied in to the text.

  Puck Lost and Found

  Acrostics for Princess Alice and Prince Charlie, children of the Duchess of Albany. They visited LC twice on 19 November 1891, and he taught them “to fold paper pistols, and to blot their names in creased paper, and showed them the machine which, by rapid spinning, turns the edging of a cup etc. into a filmy solid” (Diaries, viii, 596, also Letters, ii, 749–50).

  Appendix

  Poems Doubtfully Attributed to Lewis Carroll

  Sequel to The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain

  A poem “The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain”, published in Punch, xlii, 1 February 1862, is pasted into LC’s scrapbook (Library of Congress), and this “Sequel” is a reply (Handbook, p. 20). Edward Wakeling comments, in his notes on the Scrapbook:

  – This poem, which borrowed its title from Hannah More, was an attack on Walter Keir Hamilton, Bishop of Salisbury, who was in dispute with one of his clergy. Two eight-line stanzas in manuscript replying to this poem, and entitled “Sequel to The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain,” was found at Christ Church in 1952 among the Common Room papers of C. L. Dodgson. It was thought to be by Dodgson. However, the handwriting suggests that the author may have been his friend and colleague, Thomas Vere Bayne.

  The presence of the original Punch poem in LC’s scrapbook and of the “Sequel” among his Common Room papers suggests a further feasible explanation: that Vere Bayne copied out this text but that the poem was by LC. Although I incline to Edward Wakeling’s view on the authorship, I have decided to put the poem in an appendix since some doubt exists and readers may like to form an opinion.

  17. Audi alteram partem: Hear the other side of the question (Latin).

  [Solutions to Puzzles from Wonderland, probably from another hand]

  Contributed by “Eadgyth” to the January 1871 number of Aunt Judy’s Magazine, the solutions are probably not by LC since “Eadgyth” made a number of contributions that are certainly not by LC, but may be by Mrs Gatty, editor of the magazine (Handbook, pp. 56–7). However, they serve well as rhymed responses.

  Chronology

  (See Further Reading section for a fuller publications list.)

  1832 27 January: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson born in Daresbury, Cheshire, the third of eleven siblings. Educated at home until 1844.

  1835 Charles Dickens, Sketches by Boz, first series.

  1837 Queen Victoria’s accession to the throne.

  1840 Marriage of Victoria and Albert.

  1841 Punch started.

  1843 John Ruskin, Modern Painters, vol. 1 (vol. 2, 1846; vols. 3 and 4, 1856; vol. 5, 1860).

  1844 Robert Chambers, Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation.

  1844–5 Attends Richmond School.

  1845 Useful and Instructive Poetry, a family magazine.

  1846–50 Attends Rugby School.

  1847 Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto.

  1848 Revolutions across Europe. Formation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair.

  c. 1848 The Rectory Magazine.

  c. 1850–53 The Rectory Umbrella.

  1851 January: Comes into residence as an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford. Mother dies 26 January, the day before his nineteenth birthday.

  The Great Exhibition.

  1852 Takes Moderations examinations; awarded 1st Class in Mathematics, 2nd in Classics.

  John Henry Newman, The Scope and Nature of University Education (later editions, The Idea of a University).

  1853 Frederick Denison Maurice, Theological Essays.

  1853–6 Crimean War.

  1854 Takes 1st Class degree in Mathematics.

  George Boole, Analysis of the Laws of Thought on which are founded the Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probability.

  c. 1855–62 Mischmasch.

  1855–98 Senior Student (i.e. Fellow) of Christ Church.

  1856 March: Buys a camera, lenses and chemicals; “ready to begin the art” by May. 25 April: Becomes acquainted with the Liddell family. Meets Alice Liddell in spring and first photographs the three Liddell sisters, “not patient sitters”.

  1857 Indian Rebellion.

  1858 First photographic exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, organised by the Photographic Society of London.

  1859 Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species.

  1860 Bishop Wilberforce–T. H. Huxley debate in Oxford on Darwin’s theory of evolution.

  1861 22 December: Ordained Deacon.

  1861–5 American Civil War.

  1862 4 July: River trip with the Liddell sisters from Folly Bridge, Oxford to Godstow, during which Carroll first tells them the story of Alice.

  Christina Rossetti, Goblin Market and Other Poems.

  1863 June: Break with Liddell family until Christmas; henceforth on less intimate terms.

  1864 Gives Alice Liddell a handwritten manuscript of “Alice’s Adventures Under Ground”, illustrated with his own pictures.

  1865 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

  1866 Aunt Judy’s Magazine started. William Rowan Hamilton, Elements of Quaternions. Algernon Charles Swinburne, Poems and Ballads.

  1867 Takes trip to Russia, recounted in his Russian Journal (published posthumously).

  1868 June: Father dies.

  Disraeli becomes Prime Minister.

  1869 Phantasmagoria and Other Poems.

  1869–73 Gladstone is Prime Minister.

  1870–71 Franco-Prussian War.

  1871 Abolition of religious tests at Oxford, Cambridge and Durham. Edward Lear, Nonsense Songs and Stories; Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man.

  1872 Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There.

  1874–9 Disraeli is Prime Minister.

  1875 First Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, Trial by Jury, opens at the Royalty.

  1876 The Hunting of the Snark.

  1877 F. J. Furnivall’s edition of Shakespeare.

  1879 Walter Skeat, Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (concluded 1882).

  1880–84 Gladstone is Prime Minister.

  1882 Virginia Woolf born.

  1883 Rhyme? And Reason?

  1885 Salisbury is Prime Minister (until 1891). Fall of Khartoum, Sudan. First volume of the Dictionary of National Biography, ed. Leslie Stephen.

  1888 W. B. Yeats, Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry.

  1889 The Nursery “Alice”. Sylvie and Bruno.

  1892–3 Gladstone’s last Prime Ministership.

  1893 Sylvie and Bruno Concluded.

  1898 14 January: Dies of pneumonia at his sisters’ house in Guildford. Three Sunsets and Other Poems.

  He just wanted a decent book to read ...

  Not too much
to ask, is it? It was in 1935 when Allen Lane, Managing Director of Bodley Head Publishers, stood on a platform at Exeter railway station looking for something good to read on his journey back to London. His choice was limited to popular magazines and poor-quality paperbacks – the same choice faced every day by the vast majority of readers, few of whom could afford hardbacks. Lane’s disappointment and subsequent anger at the range of books generally available led him to found a company – and change the world.

  We believed in the existence in this country of a vast reading public for intelligent books at a low price, and staked everything on it’

  Sir Allen Lane, 1902–1970, founder of Penguin Books

  The quality paperback had arrived – and not just in bookshops. Lane was adamant that his Penguins should appear in chain stores and tobacconists, and should cost no more than a packet of cigarettes.

  Reading habits (and cigarette prices) have changed since 1935, but Penguin still believes in publishing the best books for everybody to enjoy.We still believe that good design costs no more than bad design, and we still believe that quality books published passionately and responsibly make the world a better place.

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  PENGUIN CLASSICS

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  www.penguin.com

  Published in Penguin Classics 2012

  Selection and editorial material © Gillian Beer, 2012

  All rights reserved

  Cover design: Coralie Bickford-Smith

  The moral right of the editor has been asserted

  ISBN: 978-0-14-195669-5

  1 . Bushes. 2. Beyond. 3. Darkness. 4. Company. 5. Merrily. 6. Going, journeying. 7. Went. 8. Cunning. 9. Much wearied. 10. Brave. 11. Full. 12. Howl. 13. Is. 14. Drawn. 15. Bystanders. 16. Heavy. 17. Sounds. 18. Fetch. 19. Pull. 20. Haul. 21. All.

  1 Probably a bank. 2 Grizzled. 3 Wizard-like. 4 Trembled. 5 = I wot, I ween, meaning nearly the same as “I know.” 6 Across. 7 Crouched. 8 Hangs heavily. 9 Or, murderous. 10 Pocket the Money. 11 Imitated from the conclusion of Gray’s “Bard,” only finer.

  1 i.e. the jam without the jars: observe the beauty of this rhyme.

  2 At the rate of a stroke and two thirds in a second.

  3 Unless the hen was a poacher, which is unlikely.

  4 The hen-house.

  5 Beak and claw.

  6 Press out.

  7 Probably one of the two stalwart youths.

  8 The system of return tickets is an excellent one. People are conveyed, on particular days, there and back again for one fare.

  9 An additional vexation would be that his “Return” ticket would be no use the next day.

  10 Perhaps even the “bursting” heart of its master.

  1 This Rectory has been supposed to have been built in the time of Edward the sixth, but recent discoveries clearly assign its origin to a much earlier period.

  A stone has been found in an island formed by the river Tees, on which is inscribed the letter “A,” which is justly conjectured to stand for the name of the great king Alfred, in whose reign this house was probably built.

  2 The poet entreats pardon for having represented a donkey under this dignified name.

  3 With reference to these remarkable animals see “Moans from the Miserable,” page 12.

  4 A full account of the history and misfortunes of these interesting creatures may be found in the first “Lay of Sorrow” page 36 [Penguin edition, p. 35].

  5 It is a singular fact that a donkey makes a point of returning any kicks offered it.

  6 This valiant knight besides having a heart of steel and nerves of iron, has been lately in the habit of carrying a brick in his eye.

  7 She was sister to both.

  8 The reader will probably be at a loss to discover the nature of this triumph, as no object was gained, and the donkey was obviously the victor, on this point, however, we are sorry to say, we can offer no good explanation.

  9 Much more acceptable to a true knight than “cornland” which the Roman people were so foolish as to give to their daring champion, Horatius.

  * Popinjay. This bird appears to have been a regular domestic institution with our forefathers (see the “Minstrelsy of the Border”), and to have volunteered advice and moral reflections on all possible occasions – much after the fashion of the Chorus in Greek Tragedy.

  ** Kevils, lots. A method of deciding on a course of action, which was probably most popular with those who could not afford to keep a popinjay.

  1. Dr. Wynter, President of St. John’s, one of the recently elected Conservative members of Council.

  2. “In a letter on a point connected with the late elections to the Hebdomadal Council you incidentally remarked to me that our combinations for these elections, ‘though necessary, were not an unmixed good.’ They are an unmixed evil.”

  3. “I never go to a caucus without reluctance: I never write a canvassing letter without a feeling of repugnance to my task.”

  4. “I need not rehearse the history of the Regius Professorship of Greek.”

  5. “The University cannot afford at the present moment to be delivered over as a slave to any non-academical interest whatever.”

  6. “It may be right to go on, it may be right to stand still, or it may be right to go back.”

  7. “To save the University from going completely under the yoke … we shall still be obliged to combine.”

  8. “Caucus-holding and wire-pulling would still be almost inevitably carried on to some extent.”

  9. “But what are we to do? Here is a great political and theological party … labouring under perfect discipline and with fell unity of purpose, to hold the University in subjection, and fill her government with its nominees.”

  10. At a recent election to Council, the Liberals mustered ninety-two votes, and the Conservatives ninety-three; whereupon the latter were charged with having obtained their victory by a conspiracy.

  11. “Not to mention that, as we cannot promise Paradise to our supporters, they are very apt to take the train for London just before the election.”

  12. It is not known to what the word “Paradise” was intended to allude, and therefore the hint, here thrown out, that the writer meant to recall the case of the late Chairman of Mr. Gathorne Hardy’s committee, who had been recently collated to the See of Chester, is wholly wanton and gratuitous.

  13. A case of this had actually occurred on the occasion of the division just alluded to.

  14. Mr. Wayte, now President of Trinity, then put forward as the Liberal candidate for election to Counci
l.

  15. “You and others suggest, as the only effective remedy, that the Constituency should be reformed, by the exclusion of the non-academical elements which form a main part of the strength of this party domination.”

  16. “I confess that, having included all the really academical elements in Congregation, I would go boldly on, and put an end to the legislative functions of Convocation.”

  17 “This conviction, that while we have Elections to Council we shall not entirely get rid of party organisation and its evils, leads me to venture a step further, and to raise the question whether it is really necessary that we should have an Elective Council for legislative purposes at all.”

  18 “Sometimes, indeed, not being informed that the wires are at work, we are completely taken by surprise.”

  19 “We are without protection against this most insulting and tyrannical absurdity.”

  20 “It is as exterminating as Islam.”

  21 “Their powers would scarcely be exercised for the purposes of fanaticism, or in a spirit of blind obstruction.”

  22 “These narrow local bounds, within which our thoughts and schemes have hitherto been pent, will begin to disappear, and a far wider sphere of action will open on the view.”

  23 “Those councils must be freely opened to all who can serve her well and who will serve her for herself.”

  24 “To preside over a Congregation with full legislative powers, the Vice-chancellor ought no doubt to be a man of real capacity; but why should he not? His mind ought also, for this as well as for his other high functions, to be clear of petty details, and devoted to the great matters of University business; but why should not this condition also be fulfilled?”

  25 “If you apply now to Parliament for this or any other University reform, you will find the House of Commons in a propitious mood … Even the Conservative Government, as it looks for the support of moderate Liberals on the one great subject, is very unwilling to present itself in such an aspect that these men may not be able decently to give it their support.”