Lot Essay
Ethel Hatch (1870-1975) was photographed by Lewis Carroll on a number of occasions. Carroll, a family friend, thought highly of Ethel both as a young girl and as a prospective artist and he often advised her on her career. In her typescript memoirs included here, titled An Oxford childhood and after, she makes reference to Carroll several times. Chapter XII begins Much has already been written about Lewis Carroll, or Mr. Dodgson as we called him, but my impressions of him are so vivid that it may still interest some people to hear more about him...he often had a companion for his afternoon walk, either a fellow don or sometimes a little girl...We were occasionally his companions in his walks, but only one of us at a time. As he said in a letter to me - "I like much better having children one by one, than two by two, or even forty by forty." Further on she writes In the holidays and on a Saturday we often went to Christ Church with my Mother, to have our photographs taken by Mr. Dodgson, as he was a keen amateur photographer. At first it was very exciting to climb up the wooden staircase leading to his photographic studio, and to go into the dressing room adjoining, and try on the various costumes he had collected - Japanese, Bulgarian, Spanish and so on. But the actual photographic business seemed very tedious, though afterwards we were fascinated in watching him develop the plates, in the little dark cupboard room with a stong smell of chemicals. Ever since I have associated that particular smell with those visits to Mr. Dodgson's rooms...