The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll (Rev. C. L. Dodgson)

Project Gutenberg, Stuart Dodgson Collingwood

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• Publié par: zyaj
• Nombre de lectures: 46
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll by Stuart Dodgson Collingwood This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll Author: Stuart Dodgson Collingwood Release Date: March 6, 2004 [EBook #11483] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF LEWIS CARROLL *** Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Gundry and PG Distributed Proofreaders THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF LEWIS CARROLL (REV. C. L. DODGSON) BY STUART DODGSON COLLINGWOOD 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 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; 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 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) 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 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. 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) 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 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_. CROFT RECTORY; ARCHDEACON DODGSON AND FAMILY IN FOREGROUND _From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1856. TOY STATION IN GARDEN AT CROFT _From a photograph_. ARCHBISHOP TAIT _From a photograph by Elliott and Fry_. "THE ONLY SISTER WHO _WOULD_ WRITE TO HER BROTHER" _From a drawing by Lewis Carroll_. "THE AGE OF INNOCENCE". _From a drawing by Lewis Carroll_. "THE SCANTY MEAL" _From a drawing by Lewis Carroll_. "THE FIRST EARRING"_From a drawing by Lewis Carroll_. ILLUSTRATIONS TO "LAYS OF SORROW," NO. 2 _From drawings by Lewis Carroll_. EXTERIOR OF CHRIST CHURCH _From a photograph_. GRAVE OF ARCHDEACON AND MRS. DODGSON IN CROFT CHURCHYARD _From a photograph_. LEWIS CARROLL, AGED 23 _From a photograph_. ARCHDEACON DODGSON _From a photograph_. ARCHBISHOP LONGLEY _From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_. "ALAS! WHAT BOOTS--" _From a drawing by Lewis Carroll_. ALFRED TENNYSON _From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1857. THE BISHOP OF LINCOLN _From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1875. BISHOP WILBERFORCE _From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1860. ALICE LIDDELL AS "THE BEGGAR-CHILD" _From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1858. SKETCH FROM ST. LEONARD'S CONCERT-ROOM _From a drawing by Lewis Carroll_. GEORGE MACDONALD AND HIS DAUGHTER LILY _From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1863. MRS. ROSSETTI AND HER CHILDREN, DANTE GABRIEL, CHRISTINA, AND WILLIAM _From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1863. LORINA, ALICE, AND EDITH LIDDELL _From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_. GEORGE MACDONALD _From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1870. J. SANT, R.A. _From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1866. HOLMAN HUNT _From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1860. SIR JOHN MILLAIS _From a photograph by Lewis Carroll_, 1865. CHARLOTTE M. YONGE _Fro