The Complete Alice in Wonderland (64 page)

Late 1855?:
Dodgson writes “A Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry,” which will later become the first verse of “Jabberwocky.”

February 9, 1856:
Carroll writes the following in his diary, which seems to presage the tale he will tell in
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
: “Query: when we are dreaming and, as often happens, have a dim consciousness of the fact and try to wake, do we not say and do things which in waking life would be insane? May we not then sometimes define insanity as an inability to distinguish which is the waking and which the sleeping life? We often dream without the least suspicion of unreality: ‘sleep hath its own world,’ and it is often as lifelike as the other.”

February 11 to March 1, 1856:
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson creates the
nom de plume
by which the world will always know him, Lewis (Lutwidge/Ludovicus) Carroll (Charles/Carolus).

February 25, 1856:
Dodgson meets the Liddell family at the Oxford boat races.

March 6, 1856:
Carroll makes friends with Harry Liddell, Alice’s brother. (Harry may be the model of the Jabberwock slayer in “Jabberwocky,” comparing his pose in one of Carroll’s photographs; but this is speculation.)

March 8, 1856:
Carroll makes friends with Lorina Liddell, Alice’s elder sister. (Lorina is featured in
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
as the sister on the bank, the Lory, and Elsie.)

April 25, 1856:
Carroll meets young Alice Pleasance.

Late April?, 1856:
Carroll first photographs the Liddell sisters in the Deanery garden. (This garden would later be the inspiration for the croquet-ground in
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
.)

October, 1856:
Carroll publishes the poem “Upon the Lonely Moor,” which will later become the song of the White Knight in
Through the Looking-Glass
.

November 3, 1856:
Carroll meets the governess of the Liddell children, Miss Prickett. (Miss Prickett is probably the model for the Red Queen in
Through the Looking-Glass
, considering Carroll’s comments on the nature and demeanor of governesses.)

September, 1857 and April, 1859:
Carroll meets the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. (Arguably, Carroll may have been inspired to create the peculiar format of his later poem, “The Mouse’s Tale,” due to a curious discussion with Tennyson. His meeting with Tennyson’s son Hallam may have inspired the later portrayal of the Jabberwock slayer. More likely, the Bellman as illustrated in Carroll’s later book
The Hunting of the Snark
may be a caricature of Tennyson.)

October, 1857:
Carroll meets the artist John Ruskin. (Ruskin will later appear as the Conger Eel, teaching fainting in coils (painting in oils), in
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
.)

1858:
Phantastes
, by George MacDonald, is published. Some of the elements of this story (such a person falling asleep and waking in Fairy Land) would probably inspire Carroll in his improvised storytelling of the first “Alice” stories.

1858:
Carroll creates a photograph featuring undergraduate Quentin Twiss, dressed as “the Artful Dodger.” This portrayal (arguably) may have influenced his direction to Tenniel in the later design and illustration of the Hatter in
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
.

November 24, 1859:
Charles Darwin publishes
On the Origin of Species
. (As a veiled jest in
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
, an intelligent monkey will appear in the background of the illustration featuring Alice speaking with the Dodo at the Pool of Tears.)

November, 1860:
A discussion in the month’s issue of
Notes and Queries
(likely read by Carroll, a follower) features a discussion on the origin of the phrase “to grin like a Cheshire-Cat.”

December 12, 1860:
Carroll meets Queen Victoria and members of the Royal Family. (Carroll’s fixation on tales concerning queens, such as the “Alice” stories, may have been a result of the great importance he placed on this meeting.)

Late December?, 1861:
Following his ordination, Carroll struggles to control his worsening stammer. (This affliction likely led to him portraying himself as the Dodo in
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
, since his own pronunciation of his last name was often “Do-Do-Dodgson.”)

June 27, 1862:
During a boating trip, Carroll and the Liddell sisters are caught in the rain. (This episode is alluded to in
Alice’s Adventures Under Ground
, and more distantly in
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
, when Alice complains about trying to become dry after swimming in the Pool of Tears.)

July 4, 1862:
Carroll and his friend, Robinson Duckworth (known as “the Duck”), take the Liddell sisters up the river Isis on a boating adventure. While rowing, Carroll improvises a story, which will later become
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
. Alice asks Carroll to write the story down.

August 1, 1862:
Carroll listens to the Liddell sisters perform the song “Beautiful Star.” (This will later be parodied in the Mock Turtle’s song, “Beautiful Soup”.)

November 13, 1862:
Carroll begins formally writing down Alice’s adventures.

February 10, 1863:
By this time, Carroll has completed the manuscript for
Alice’s Adventures Under Ground
, the first version of
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
. His illustrations, however, are not yet complete.

March 10, 1863:
Carroll takes Alice to see the fireworks and illuminations conducted to celebrate the marriage of the Prince of Wales to Princess Alexandra in Denmark. (Some of the pageantry of this event will later be included in the royal feast episode of the Red Queen in
Through the Looking-Glass
.)

April 15, 1863:
Carroll takes a train journey with Miss Prickett and the Liddell children. (This episode will later be referenced in the train chapter of
Through the Looking-Glass
.)

March, 1863:
Carroll writes a dedicatory poem entitled “Life’s ‘Pleasance’” that will later become the prefatory poem in
Through the Looking-Glass
.

May 9, 1863:
Carroll presents the manuscript of
Alice’s Adventures Under Ground
to his friend, the author George MacDonald. Based on the enthusiastic reception of the work by MacDonald’s children, Carroll considers publication.

June 27, 1863:
Carroll and Mrs. Liddell suffer some form of social mishap (rumored to relate to Carroll’s perceived interest in the Liddell girls, and speculation among uninformed observers). Carroll and Alice may have been forbidden to see one another at this time.

October 19, 1863:
Carroll inquires with Macmillan about publishing
Alice’s Adventures Under Ground
. The publisher expresses interest.

October 1863:
Robinson Duckworth encourages Carroll to speak to John Tenniel (the cartoonist for
Punch
) about creating illustrations for a published version of
Alice’s Adventures Under Ground
.

December 20, 1863:
Carroll writes to his friend Tom Taylor, seeking a referral to (and possible meeting with) John Tenniel to discuss an illustration proposal.

1863 to 1864:
Carroll develops the
Under Ground
manuscript for potential publication.

January 25, 1864:
Carroll is introduced to John Tenniel. At this time, he may have asked Tenniel to consider drawing the illustrations for
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
.

April 5, 1864:
Tenniel agrees to illustrate Carroll’s work for publication.

June 10, 1864:
Carroll writes to Tom Taylor, asking assistance in titling the to-be-published version of
Alice’s Adventures Under Ground
. Titles proposed include:

Alice Among the Elves

Alice Among the Goblins

Alice’s Hour in Elf-Land

Alice’s Doings in Elf-Land

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

June to November, 1864:
Extensive letters go between Carroll, Macmillan and Tenniel as
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
is prepared for publication.

September 13, 1864:
Carroll completes his illustrations for
Alice’s Adventures Under Ground
.

November 26, 1864:
Carroll presents the uniquely written and illustrated manuscript of
Alice’s Adventures Under Ground
to Alice Liddell.

May?, 1865:
Tenniel completes his illustrations for the book.

June to July, 1865:
The Clarendon Press prints 2,000 copies of the first edition.

July 20 to August, 1865:
Printing problems with the first edition cause it to be immediately withdrawn.

November 9, 1865:
The new edition of
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
, with corrected printing, is released.

November 12 to December, 1865:
Glowing reviews help to drive sales of
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
for the Christmas season.

December 14, 1865:
Carroll sends a bound copy of
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
to Alice Liddell.

Early 1866:
The book becomes instantly famous, and speculation about the author becomes rampant. Carroll (Dodgson) remains in relative seclusion.

August 24, 1866:
Carroll considers writing a sequel to
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
, but sends a letter indicating to Macmillan that he will not complete it for some time. He discusses the matter with Tenniel, but Tenniel declines the offer of illustration.

Winter, 1866:
Carroll writes the first pages to the “Alice” sequel.

December 15, 1867:
While the writing is slow and sporadic, Carroll writes to a friend that the “Alice” sequel, tentatively titled
Alice’s Visit to Looking-Glass House
, is “getting on pretty well.”

April to June 18, 1868:
Carroll, through repeated urgings, finally convinces Tenniel to develop illustrations for the
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
sequel.

June?, 1868:
Carroll begins writing the Alice sequel (possibly including notes developed in 1866 and 1867, as well as consideration of older poems).

August, 1868?:
Carroll has a conversation about mirror images with a young lady named Alice Raikes; the interesting themes raised at this time are incorporated into the conception of the
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
sequel.

January 12, 1869:
Carroll sends the first completed chapter of the “Alice” sequel (then tentatively titled
Behind the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Saw There
) to Macmillan for consideration.

1869:
Alice’s Abenteueur im Wunderland
, a German translation, is published (the first of many foreign editions, which are beyond the scope of this authorial chronology).

January 4, 1870:
Carroll completes the manuscript for
Through the Looking-Glass
.

June 1, 1870:
In a letter, Tenniel encourages Carroll to drop the Wasp in a Wig chapter from
Through the Looking-Glass
. Carroll takes his advice.

Late 1869 to Fall, 1871:
Throughout this time period, Tenniel creates the illustrations for the “Alice” sequel.

March, 1871:
Carroll, concerned about the nightmarish quality of Tenniel’s Jabberwock illustration, asks that the illustration be moved from being the frontispiece to the interior of the book.

August, 1871:
By this time, Carroll has completed the text of the Alice sequel, but is still waiting for the last of the Tenniel illustrations.

November, 1871:
By this time,
Through the Looking-Glass
is finally being printed.

December, 1871:
Macmillan & Co. publishes Carroll’s Alice sequel,
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There
(dated 1872).

December, 1871:
Positive reviews appear throughout England for
Through the Looking-Glass
, and again drive Christmas sales.

December, 1871 to January 27, 1872:
In the first seven weeks of publication,
Through the Looking-Glass
sells 15,000 copies.

July, 1874:
Carroll has a stroll which results in his composing the ending (and first created) verse of his future work,
The Hunting of the Snark
.

Summer, 1874:
Carroll writes
The Hunting of the Snark
.