Nope, but Alice definitely does still live here. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was published in 1865 and was authored by Lewis Carroll. Carroll, however was the pen name of Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson[1]who was the Tutor in Mathematics at Christ Church[2]in Oxford. The story behind Alice is fascinating.
Dodgson was at Christ Church for forty-seven years beginning in 1850—first as an undergraduate, then as a “Student” (the Oxford term for “fellow”) and finally as Lecturer and Tutor. The Very Reverend Henry George Liddell was Dean of Christ Church from 1855 until his death in 1891. Dodgson was a friend of the Liddell family, which included three daughters—one of whom was named Alice.
In 1856, Dodgson was also working as the Christ Church Assistant College Librarian. The back of the College library overlooked the Dean’s garden (as it still does) and from his office, Dodgson first saw Alice as she was playing in the garden. On Friday, July 4, 1862, Dodson and his friend, Robinson Duckworth, took Alice and her sisters on boat trip up the River Thames.[3]The group had a picnic in Port Meadow on and during the picnic, Dodson told a story of “Alice in Wonderland.” Dodgson apparently made up the story as he was telling it. According to Dodgson “in a desperate attempt to strike out on some new line of fairy-lore, I had sent my heroine straight down a rabbit-hole...without the least idea what was to happen afterwards.”[4]
Alice was enthralled with the story and asked Dodgson to write it down. Dodgson did so and, in November 1864, he gave Alice a hand-written manuscript entitled Alice’s Adventures Underground. Friends of Dodgson encouraged him to publish the manuscript and Dodgson hired John Tenniel, a cartoonist of some repute, to illustrate the book. While Tenniel was the illustrator, Dodgson micro-managed the Tenniel’s work and all illustrations had to meet Dodgson’s strict specifications. Interestingly, from the book and movie, we all know Alice as a girl with long blonde hair. In fact, Alice’s hair was short and black.
The book, now titled Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, was published in 1865 and on July 4—three years to the day after the picnic[5]—Dodgson presented Alice with the first printed copy of the book. Dodgson published all of his mathematical work under his own name and all of his poetry and fiction was published under his pen name, but he never publically revealed he was Lewis Carroll. Adventures in Wonderland was enormously popular and allowed Dodgson to have a very nice life-style.
Alice kept the handwritten manuscript of Adventure under Grounduntil 1928 when she had to pay taxes following the death or her husband.The manuscript was sold to an American, Dr. Rosenbach, who quickly sold it to Eldridge Johnson. Following Johnson’s death in 1946 the manuscript was purchased by a wealthy group of benefactors who donated the volume to the British people (and the British Museum) in 1948 in gratitude for their gallantry against Adolf Hitler during World War Two.[6]
According to legend, the White Rabbit in Adventures in Wonderland is based on Alice’s father, Dean Liddell. Unlike the Rabbit, however, Liddell was very organized and a strict disciplinarian who initiated many reforms at Christ Church. The Dodo character in Adventures is certainly Dodgson himself. He spoke with something of a stutter—he called it his “hesitation”—and he was known as “Dodo” at Christ Church. One of the sights many visitors enjoy seeing is the “Alice’s Door” which connects the Dean’s Garden to the Cathedral garden. It is the famous door though Alice encounters after following the White Rabbit down the rabbit hole. Below is a picture of the door as seen by Cathedral visitors. However, it is not the door as seen by Alice. The door was used by Dean Liddell when he went from his home to the Cathedral to preside over services. Alice was not allowed to go through that door, so she never saw if from the Cathedral side. Also below is a picture of the door from the Dean’s Garden—as Alice saw it. Finally, pictured below is the back of the Library as viewed from the Dean’s Garden. The window from which Dodgson first saw Alice is the bottom window on the far left.
God’s Peace to you all.
Randy
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| Alice's Door viewed from the Cathedral Garden. |
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| Alice's Door viewed from Dean's Garden. (Alice's view.) |
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| Library viewed from Dean's Garden. Dodgson's office is the bottom left (open) window. |
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| Dean's Garden where Alice played as a young girl. |
[1]Dodgson was an Anglican Deacon, but never ordained as a priest.
[2]Christ Church campus is a College within the Oxford University and a part of Christ Church is the Christ Church Cathedral which is the Cathedral of the Diocese of Oxfordshire. This will be explained in greater detail in a later post.
[3]The Thames is a small river in Oxford and forms the border of the Christ Church Meadow behind the College/Cathedral. Within Oxford, the Thames is often references as the “Isis.”
[4]Much of what is in this post is taken from a brief biography of Dodgson by Jim Godfrey, Cathedral Verger at Christ Church, Oxford as well as conversations with Jim.
[5]And in no way in celebration of Independence Day in the USA.
[6]https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/alices-adventures-under-ground-the-original-manuscript-version-of-alices-adventures-in-wonderland
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