Charles Lutwidge Dodgson

Lewis Carroll was born on 27 January 1832 in Daresbury, Cheshire, England. He was the third child and eldest son of Charles Dodgson, an Anglican clergyman and a mathematics teacher at Christ Church, Oxford, and Frances Jane Lutwidge Dodgson, his first cousin. He had 10 siblings, seven of whom survived to adulthood. He was educated at home until he was 12 years old, when he went to Richmond Grammar School. He then attended Rugby School from 1846 to 1849. He showed a talent for mathematics and literature from an early age. He also enjoyed inventing games and puzzles, writing stories and poems, and drawing and photography. In 1850, he entered Christ Church, Oxford, where he studied mathematics and classics. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1854, obtaining first-class honours in mathematics. He remained at Christ Church as a lecturer in mathematics until 1881. He also became a deacon of the Church of England in 1861, but he never took holy orders or married. He suffered from a stammer that affected his speech and social life. He was also shy and reserved with adults, but he had a playful and affectionate relationship with children. ¹ He adopted the pen name Lewis Carroll in 1856, when he published his first poem, Solitude, in The Train magazine. He derived his pseudonym from his real name by translating Charles Lutwidge into Latin as Carolus Ludovicus and then reversing their order and anglicizing them. He used this name for his literary works, while he continued to publish his mathematical and academic writings under his real name. ¹ He is most famous for his two children's books: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass (1871). These books were inspired by Alice Liddell, the daughter of Henry Liddell, the dean of Christ Church, whom Carroll met in 1856 and befriended. He often entertained Alice and her sisters with stories and games during their outings. On 4 July 1862, he took them on a boat trip along the River Thames and told them the story that would become Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Alice asked him to write it down for her, which he did over the next two years. He also illustrated the manuscript himself and gave it to Alice as a Christmas gift in 1864. He then decided to publish it with the help of his friend George MacDonald, a Scottish author and poet. He revised and expanded the story, added new characters and episodes, and commissioned John Tenniel to illustrate it. The book was published in 1865 under the title Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll with illustrations by John Tenniel. It was an instant success and has since become one of the most popular and influential works of fiction in the English language. It has been translated into more than 170 languages and adapted into various media forms such as films, plays, musicals, operas, ballets, video games, and comics. ¹ He wrote the sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, in 1871. It follows Alice's adventures in a mirror world that is based on a chessboard. It also introduces new characters such as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Humpty Dumpty, the Jabberwock, and the White Knight. It contains the famous poem Jabberwocky, which is considered one of the greatest examples of nonsense literature. ¹ He also wrote other works of fiction and non-fiction, such as The Hunting of the Snark (1876), a long nonsense poem about the quest for a mythical creature; Sylvie and Bruno (1889) and Sylvie and Bruno Concluded (1893), two novels that combine realistic and fantasy elements; A Tangled Tale (1885), a collection of humorous stories that contain mathematical problems; The Game of Logic (1886), a book that explains the principles of logic using a game board and counters; and Symbolic Logic (1896), a book that presents his own system of logic. He also wrote numerous poems, short stories, essays, letters, and pamphlets on various topics, such as religion, politics, education, art, and social issues. ¹ He died on 14 January 1898 at his sisters' home in Guildford, Surrey, England, from pneumonia following influenza. He was 65 years old. He was buried at Mount Cemetery in Guildford. His grave is marked by a stone with his name and dates of birth and death. His life and works have inspired many biographies, studies, adaptations, and tributes over the years. He is regarded as one of the most original and imaginative writers of all time and one of the pioneers of the genre of fantasy literature. ¹