This Day In History

On this day in 1898, the English author Lewis Carroll died of pneumonia following influenza. Carroll (birth name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) was best known for his book ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ and its sequel ‘Through the Looking-Glass’. He was also a mathematician and photographer.

In 1856 a new Dean (Henry Liddell) arrived at Christ Church collge of the University of Oxford, where Carroll studied and taught. He became close friends with Liddell’s family, especially his daughter Alice. Whilst Carroll denied that his character was based on a real child, it is widely believed that his heroine was based on Alice Liddell. Partly because the acrostic poem at the end of ‘Through the Looking Glass’ spells out her name. He would frequently take the children on rowing trips, and on one trip invented a little story that would later become ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’. Alice Liddell, having been told the story, begged Carroll to write it down; he did so, and gave her an illustrated manuscript in 1864 with the title ‘Alice’s Adventures Under Ground’. The final version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ was published in 1865. The book was a huge success, and ‘Lewis Carroll’ became famous around the world. Its sequel was published in 1871.

There has been much speculation about Carroll and his mysterious life, but one cannot deny the influence Carroll’s writing and the characters in his works have had on popular culture.