In November he again moved into new rooms at Christ Church; the suite which he occupied from this date to the end of his life was one of the best in the College. Situated at the north-west corner of Tom Quad, on the first floor of the staircase from the entrance to which the Junior Common Room is now approached, they consist of four sitting-rooms and about an equal number of bedrooms, besides rooms for lumber, &c. From the upper floor one can easily reach the flat college roof. Mr. Dodgson saw at once that here was the very place for a photographic studio, and he lost no time in obtaining the consent of the authorities to erect one. Here he took innumerable photographs of his friends and their children, as indeed he had been doing for some time under less favourable conditions. One of his earliest pictures is an excellent likeness of Professor Faraday.
His study was characteristic of the man; oil paintings by A. Hughes, Mrs. Anderson, and Heaphy proclaimed his artistic tastes; nests of pigeon-holes, each neatly labelled, showed his love of order; shelves, filled with the best books on every subject that interested him, were evidence of his wide reading. His library has now been broken up and, except for a few books retained by his nearest relatives, scattered to the winds; such dispersions are inevitable, but they are none the less regrettable. It always seems to me that one of the saddest things about the death of a literary man is the fact that the breaking-up of his collection of books almost invariably follows; the building up of a good library, the work of a lifetime, has been so much labour lost, so far as future generations are concerned. Talent, yes, and genius too, are displayed not only in writing books but also in buying them, and it is a pity that the ruthless hammer of the auctioneer should render so much energy and skill fruitless.
LEWIS CARROLL’S STUDY AT CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD.
Lewis Carroll’s dining-room has been the scene of many a pleasant little party, for he was very fond of entertaining. In his Diary, each of the dinners and luncheons that he gave is recorded by a small diagram, which shows who his guests were, and their several positions at the table. He kept a menu book as well, that the same people might not have the same dishes too frequently. He sometimes gave large parties, but his favourite form of social relaxation was a dîner à deux.
From a photograph by Lewis Carroll.
At the beginning of 1869 his “Phantasmagoria,” a collection of poems grave and gay, was published by Macmillan. Upon the whole he was more successful in humorous poetry, but there is an undeniable dignity and pathos in his more serious verses. He gave a copy to Mr. Justice Denman, with whom he afterwards came to be very well acquainted, and who appreciated the gift highly. “I did not lay down the book,” he wrote, “until I had read them [the poems] through; and enjoyed many a hearty laugh, and something like a cry or two. Moreover, I hope to read them through (as the old man said) ‘again and again.’”
It had been Lewis Carroll’s intention to have “Phantasmagoria” illustrated, and he had asked George du Maurier to undertake the work; but the plan fell through. In his letter to du Maurier, Mr. Dodgson had made some inquiries about Miss Florence Montgomery, the authoress of “Misunderstood.” In reply du Maurier said, “Miss Florence Montgomery is a very charming and sympathetic young lady, the daughter of the admiral of that ilk. I am, like you, a very great admirer of “Misunderstood,” and cried pints over it. When I was doing the last picture I had to put a long white pipe in the little boy’s mouth until it was finished, so as to get rid of the horrible pathos of the situation while I was executing the work. In reading the book a second time (knowing the sad end of the dear little boy), the funny parts made me cry almost as much as the pathetic ones.”
A few days after the publication of “Phantasmagoria,” Lewis Carroll sent the first chapter of his new story to the press. “Behind the Looking-Glass and what Alice saw there” was his original idea for its title; it was Dr. Liddon who suggested the name finally adopted.
During this year German and French translations of “Alice in Wonderland” were published by Macmillan; the Italian edition appeared in 1872. Henri Bué, who was responsible for the French version, had no easy task to perform. In many cases the puns proved quite untranslatable; while the poems, being parodies on well-known English pieces, would have been pointless on the other side of the Channel. For instance, the lines beginning, “How doth the little crocodile” are a parody on “How doth the little busy bee,” a song which a French child has, of course, never heard of. In this case Bué gave up the idea of translation altogether, and, instead, parodied La Fontaine’s “Maître Corbeau” as follows:—
Maître Corbeau sur un arbre perché
Faisait son nid entre des branches;
Il avait relevé ses manches,
Car il était très affairé.
Maître Renard par là passant,
Lui dit: “Descendez donc, compère;
Venez embrasser votre frère!”
Le Corbeau, le reconnaissant,
Lui répondit en son ramage!—
“Fromage.”
The dialogue in which the joke occurs about “tortoise” and “taught us” (“Wonderland,” p. 142) is thus rendered:—
“La maîtresse était une vieille tortue; nous l’appelions chélonée.”
“Et pourquoi l’appeliez-vous chélonée, si ce n’était pas son nom?”
“Parcequ’on ne pouvait s’empêcher de s’écrier en la voyant: Quel long nez!” dit la Fausse-Tortue d’un ton fâché; “vous êtes vraiment bien bornée!”
At two points, however, both M. Bué and Miss Antonie Zimmermann, who translated the tale into German, were fairly beaten: the reason for the whiting being so called, from its doing the boots and shoes, and for no wise fish going anywhere without a porpoise, were given up as untranslatable.
LORD SALISBURY AND HIS TWO SONS. From a photograph by Lewis Carroll.
At the beginning of 1870 Lord Salisbury came up to Oxford to be installed as Chancellor of the University. Dr. Liddon introduced Mr. Dodgson to him, and thus began a very pleasant acquaintance. Of course he photographed the Chancellor and his two sons, for he never missed an opportunity of getting distinguished people into his studio.
In December, seven “Puzzles from Wonderland” appeared in Mrs. Gatty’s paper, Aunt Judy’s Magazine. They had originally been written for the Cecil children, with whom Lewis Carroll was already on the best terms. Meanwhile “Through the Looking-Glass” was steadily progressing—not, however, without many little hitches. One question which exercised Mr. Dodgson very much was whether the picture of the Jabberwock would do as a frontispiece, or whether it would be too frightening for little children. On this point he sought the advice of about thirty of his married lady friends, whose experiences with their own children would make them trustworthy advisers; and in the end he chose the picture of the White Knight on horseback. In 1871 the book appeared, and was an instantaneous success.