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Letter to Henry Ellison. 18 September 1866
Details
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898)
Letter to Henry Ellison. 18 September 1866
DODGSON, Charles Lutwidge (‘Lewis Carroll’, 1832-1898). Autograph letter signed (‘C L Dodgson’) to [Heny John] Ellison, 5 East Terrace, Whitby, 18 September 1866.
Three pages, 180 x 114mm, bifolium.
Writing from the seaside, seeking an introduction to Edith Jebb – who would become one of his ‘child friends’ – and her siblings. The weather in Whitby is exceptionally lovely and Dodgson wishes Ellison were there with him, not least to enquire whether any of the latter’s relations by the name of Jebb might be visiting from Doncaster. ‘There is a Mr and Mrs Jebb here, with 3 children, 2 girls & a boy: the 2 former remarkably pretty. We should much like to have a good pretext for making their acquaintance – not only on social grounds, but (in my case) on artistic grounds, as I might perhaps some day get them as subjects for the camera’. He continues: ‘I see that the little group I did of your young trio figures in a very conspicuous place outside Mr Braithwaite’s shop. I suppose he is rather proud of it as an emanation from his studio’.
Henry Ellison's children had sat for Dodgson four years earlier – a series of photographs taken at South Bank, Malvern are recorded in the catalogue raisonné (The Photographs of Lewis Carroll, 2015). Dodgson was evidently aware that Jebb was the maiden name of their mother, Mary – and shortly after writing the present letter, Dodgson was to succeed in securing the acquaintance of the Jebb children: photographs of Florence and Edith, along with their brother Alvery, were taken in Braithwaite’s in Whitby on 25 September 1866. Edith Jebb was to become one of Dodgson’s ‘child friends’ – a pair of affectionate letters written to her in 1870 survive – and she went on to sit for Dodgson again in 1874.
Letter to Henry Ellison. 18 September 1866
DODGSON, Charles Lutwidge (‘Lewis Carroll’, 1832-1898). Autograph letter signed (‘C L Dodgson’) to [Heny John] Ellison, 5 East Terrace, Whitby, 18 September 1866.
Three pages, 180 x 114mm, bifolium.
Writing from the seaside, seeking an introduction to Edith Jebb – who would become one of his ‘child friends’ – and her siblings. The weather in Whitby is exceptionally lovely and Dodgson wishes Ellison were there with him, not least to enquire whether any of the latter’s relations by the name of Jebb might be visiting from Doncaster. ‘There is a Mr and Mrs Jebb here, with 3 children, 2 girls & a boy: the 2 former remarkably pretty. We should much like to have a good pretext for making their acquaintance – not only on social grounds, but (in my case) on artistic grounds, as I might perhaps some day get them as subjects for the camera’. He continues: ‘I see that the little group I did of your young trio figures in a very conspicuous place outside Mr Braithwaite’s shop. I suppose he is rather proud of it as an emanation from his studio’.
Henry Ellison's children had sat for Dodgson four years earlier – a series of photographs taken at South Bank, Malvern are recorded in the catalogue raisonné (The Photographs of Lewis Carroll, 2015). Dodgson was evidently aware that Jebb was the maiden name of their mother, Mary – and shortly after writing the present letter, Dodgson was to succeed in securing the acquaintance of the Jebb children: photographs of Florence and Edith, along with their brother Alvery, were taken in Braithwaite’s in Whitby on 25 September 1866. Edith Jebb was to become one of Dodgson’s ‘child friends’ – a pair of affectionate letters written to her in 1870 survive – and she went on to sit for Dodgson again in 1874.
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This lot has been imported from outside the EU for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on the invoice. Please see Conditions of Sale for further information.
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