Lewis Carroll


Photo of Lewis Carroll
The Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer. He was born in Cheshire, England, in 1832 the eldest boy in a family of six girls and four boys. From a young age he wrote poetry and short stories, many of which were published in magazines such as 'Mischmasch' and 'The Whitby Gazette.'

His most famous works are 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' and the poems 'The Hunting of the Snark' and 'Jabberwocky', which embrace nonsense and word play as important literary devices. He is noted for his facility at word play, logic, and fantasy, and there are societies the world over dedicated to the enjoyment and promotion of his works. It has been suggested that the character of Alice was based on a young child named Alice Liddell, who was the daughter of one of Carroll's Oxford colleagues and with whom Carroll had a strong friendship, though Carroll denied that his heroine was based on any particular child. He died from a severe case of pneumonia in 1898.

Author's Comment: (In a letter to Edith Blakemore, November, 1879) I have been awfully busy, and I've had to write heaps of letters - wheelbarrows full, almost. And it tires me so that generally I go to bed again the next minute after I get up; and sometimes I go to bed again a minute before I get up! Did you ever hear of any one being so tired as that?

Nationality: British

Featured series by Lewis Carroll


Alice in Wonderland - Age 8 & up