CHARLES L. "LEWIS CARROLL" DODGSON - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 05/18/1884 - HFSID 68295
Sale Price $2,495.00
Reg. $3,000.00
CHARLES L. DODGSON (LEWIS CARROLL)
His signed autograph letter from 1884, framed with his picture and
commemorative plaques in the Gallery of History style to 31x24
ALS: "C.L. Dodgson.", 1 page, 3¾x6. Ch[rist]. Ch[urch]., Oxford,
1884 May 18. To an unnamed recipient. In full: "My old friend, and
your brother-in-law, Mr. F.H. Atkinson, tells me your mother & Sister are
now in England. Can you tell me how long they are likely to remain, & what
is their London address, as I might find some opportunity of calling, &
renewing a pleasant acquaintance begun in Jersey last Eastertide." Oxford
don and mathematician at Christ Church in Oxford, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
(1832-1898) wrote this letter 19 years after his most famous work, Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland (1865), was published. A shy, serious-minded
young man, he nonetheless had his whimsical side, which he reverted to when
around children, and with whom he did not stammer. Urged to pen the imaginative
stories that he told to the daughters of Oxford Dean Henry Liddell, Dodgson
transposed his name, Charles Lutwidge, to Ludovic Carolus, resulting in the name
Lewis Carroll. Because she had pleaded with him to write down the story,
ten-year-old Alice Liddell, the youngest of the Dean's girls, was presented with
the finished manuscript by Dodgson in December 1864. A fairly accomplished
artist, he was nonetheless encouraged to hire a professional illustrator, which
he did. Sir John Tenniel illustrated Alice and her curious encounters with the
White Rabbit, the Cheshire-Cat, the Queen of Hearts and others in Wonderland.
The wide acclaim and immediate success of his tale of Alice prompted a
sequel, Through the Looking Glass, in 1872 (also graphically
portrayed by Tenniel). Because of his financial success, the unpretentious
Dodgson asked that his salary be lowered at Christ Church. Besides Alice's
adventures, his mathematical expertise and lectures, he wrote nonsense poems and
stories such as Phantasmagoria and Other Poems (1869) and The Hunting
of the Snark (1876). Creased at left edge. Tape stains at upper and lower
edge, touching some words. Overall, fine condition. Framed in the Gallery of
History style: 31½23¾.
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