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DODGSON, Charles Lutwidge (‘Lewis Carroll’, 1832-1898). Autograph manuscript acrostic poem signed (‘Lewis Carroll’), 15 July 1875.
17 lines written inside a copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. London: Macmillan and co., 1874, dated presentation inscription to Jessie Howard Clark, ‘in remembrance of her sister Alice, by the Author’, 182 x 125mm. Gilt cloth; [With:] Two autograph letters signed (‘Charles L. Dodgson, alias “Lewis Carroll”’ and ‘C L Dodgson’) to [John Howard Clark: ‘My dear Sir’], Christ Church, Oxford, 13 November 1874 and 29 July 1875, discussing Alice and its reception amongst children, his own verse, and that of Howard Clark, 4 pages and 3½ pages, both 181 x 113mm, bifolia.
Presenting a copy of Alice to a recipient in Australia: ‘It is, I assure you, a real pleasure to me, who am a great lover of the race of children, to know that my little books are liked by so many, & in so many distant lands. They were inspired originally by an ‘Alice’, now a grown woman … It is too much to hope that you have an ‘Alice’ among your children, but if there is one of your daughters (whatever her name) to care for a presentation copy of ‘Alice’ or the ‘Looking-glass’, it will give me great pleasure to send it’ [13 November 1874]; Enclosing this presentation copy of Alice, inscribed with an acrostic verse, ‘hoping that she is still enough of a child to allow such a composition to be addressed to her. Perhaps you will kindly tell me her age when next you write’ and asking for a photograph of its dedicatee [Jessie]. Touching again on his nom-de-plume, Dodgson continues ‘You need not trouble yourself very particularly to keep my name a secret … but I do not want it printed, as I wish the book to retain its present anonymous character’, before suggesting improvements to his verse and to those of Howard Clark [29 July 1875]; the acrostic poem opening ‘Just half a world to travel o’er/Ere this may reach its Southern home’, with the distance between Dodgson and Jessie Howard Clark, now linked by Alice, as its subject.
The newspaperman and author John Howard Clark (1830-1878) had sent Dodgson a copy of his children’s book, Bertie and the Bullfrogs, inspired by Dodgson’s own work. Dodgson’s response, offering to send a presentation volume to an ‘Alice’, if Howard Clark had a daughter of that name, was rendered particularly poignant in light of the knowledge that a daughter of that name had indeed died in infancy: instead, Dodgson was to dedicate his acrostic poem to Alice’s sister, Jessie Howard, with a touching presentation inscription.
17 lines written inside a copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. London: Macmillan and co., 1874, dated presentation inscription to Jessie Howard Clark, ‘in remembrance of her sister Alice, by the Author’, 182 x 125mm. Gilt cloth; [With:] Two autograph letters signed (‘Charles L. Dodgson, alias “Lewis Carroll”’ and ‘C L Dodgson’) to [John Howard Clark: ‘My dear Sir’], Christ Church, Oxford, 13 November 1874 and 29 July 1875, discussing Alice and its reception amongst children, his own verse, and that of Howard Clark, 4 pages and 3½ pages, both 181 x 113mm, bifolia.
Presenting a copy of Alice to a recipient in Australia: ‘It is, I assure you, a real pleasure to me, who am a great lover of the race of children, to know that my little books are liked by so many, & in so many distant lands. They were inspired originally by an ‘Alice’, now a grown woman … It is too much to hope that you have an ‘Alice’ among your children, but if there is one of your daughters (whatever her name) to care for a presentation copy of ‘Alice’ or the ‘Looking-glass’, it will give me great pleasure to send it’ [13 November 1874]; Enclosing this presentation copy of Alice, inscribed with an acrostic verse, ‘hoping that she is still enough of a child to allow such a composition to be addressed to her. Perhaps you will kindly tell me her age when next you write’ and asking for a photograph of its dedicatee [Jessie]. Touching again on his nom-de-plume, Dodgson continues ‘You need not trouble yourself very particularly to keep my name a secret … but I do not want it printed, as I wish the book to retain its present anonymous character’, before suggesting improvements to his verse and to those of Howard Clark [29 July 1875]; the acrostic poem opening ‘Just half a world to travel o’er/Ere this may reach its Southern home’, with the distance between Dodgson and Jessie Howard Clark, now linked by Alice, as its subject.
The newspaperman and author John Howard Clark (1830-1878) had sent Dodgson a copy of his children’s book, Bertie and the Bullfrogs, inspired by Dodgson’s own work. Dodgson’s response, offering to send a presentation volume to an ‘Alice’, if Howard Clark had a daughter of that name, was rendered particularly poignant in light of the knowledge that a daughter of that name had indeed died in infancy: instead, Dodgson was to dedicate his acrostic poem to Alice’s sister, Jessie Howard, with a touching presentation inscription.
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