Lewis Carroll - Photographer By Contributor and Writer Jim Shneer
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was a university lecturer in mathematics in the mid 19th century who published a number of papers and books on algebra, geometry and symbolic logic. The vast majority of people, though, know him by his pseudonym, Lewis Carroll, the name under which he published Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and many other stories and poems which have delighted readers worldwide since then. In fact Alice has now been translated into about 170 languages.
Dodgson was born in 1832 in Daresbury, England. He entered Oxford University’s Christ Church College in 1850. In 1851, he took up residence in college facilities and lived there until his death. In 1854 he received his degree from the college and became a lecturer in mathematics there in 1856.
Dodgson took his first photograph in 1856, the same year he first published as Lewis Carroll, and became a master of his craft. In the course of his 24-year long photographic career he took about 3000 pictures of which approximately 1580 survive. He photographed a variety of subjects including men, women, boys, landscapes, skeletons, dolls, dogs, statues, paintings, trees, and his favorite subject, young girls.
Self-portrait (1856)
In the mid 19th century photography was in its infancy and taking a photo was an elaborate process which required the photographer to coat a glass plate with chemicals to create a negative, take the photograph and then immediately develop the exposed negative. 71 of Carroll’s glass negatives still exist.
Example 19th century outdoor photo session with a camera and portable darkroom (John Thomson)
Also in 1856, Dean Henry Liddell arrived at Christ Church, bringing with him his young family, all of whom would figure largely in Dodgson's life over the following years. Dodgson became close friends with Liddell's wife Lorina and their children, particularly the three sisters Lorina (Ina), Edith, and Alice Liddell.
Alice, Lorina, Harry and Edith (Lewis Carroll [LC] 1860)
It has been assumed since very early on that Carroll derived his literary "Alice" from Alice Liddell and there is evidence in his writing that substantiates that assumption. In later life Carroll, however, repeatedly denied that his "little heroine" was based on any real child. Although information is scarce since his diaries for the years 1858-1862 are missing, it seems clear that his friendship with the Liddell family was an important part of his life in the late 1850s. He grew into the habit of taking the children on rowing trips; first the boy, Harry, and later the three girls, accompanied by an adult friend. It was on one such expedition on July 4, 1862 that Dodgson created the outline of the story that eventually became his first and greatest commercial success.
He told the story to Alice Liddell and she begged him to write it down, and Carroll eventually presented her with a handwritten, illustrated manuscript entitled Alice's Adventures Under Ground in November 1864.
Alice’s Adventures Under Ground became Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland when it was published in 1865.
Alice Liddell (LC - June 2, 1857)
Alice Liddell (LC - summer 1858)
Alice was a great success, and in 1871 he published a sequel; Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, which sold out immediately. Anxious to preserve his anonymity Dodgson never publicly acknowledged being Lewis Carroll. However, the income from Alice allowed him to move into a larger set of rooms in the college and it also enabled him to retire from teaching in 1881. He then became Curator of the Senior Common Room, which involved the management of groceries, wine-cellars and college servants.
Dodgson acquired a studio across the street from Christ Church in 1863 and used it until 1872 when he established his own studio on the roof above his quarters. Carroll’s favorite sitter was Alexandra “Xie” Kitchin (pronounced ecsy). He took over 50 photographs of her.
Xie Kitchin (LC - June 12, 1873)
Xie Kitchin (LC - July 17, 1878)
He gave up photography in 1880 because, as he writes, “of the effort required for purchasing the chemicals, getting out the photographic equipment, preparing the studio and the other preparatory needs”.
This photograph of Elizabeth Hatch, taken on June 15, 1880, is the last photographic entry in Lewis Carroll’s diary for which a print exists.
Dodgson died of pneumonia following an attack of influenza on January 14, 1898 at his sisters' home, "The Chestnuts", in Guildford in the county of Surrey. He was two weeks away from turning 66 years old. His funeral was held at the nearby St Mary's Church. His body was buried at the Mount Cemetery in Guildford. Interestingly, all of his siblings survived into the 20th century.
Jim is a former aerospace engineering manager who, since retiring, has become a local lecturer and author on variety of historical subjects. Among his nearly dozen books are Exploring the Military History of Fort MacArthur and Palos Verdes and his just published Lewis Carroll’s Photographs of Children and Young Adults. This last book contains a biography of Lewis Carroll and biographical sketches of a number of his sitters and over 200 of Carroll’s photographs including 8 which have never before been published. All of his books may be seen at https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/gg2490
