Who is Lewis Carroll?
Lewis Carroll was a famous English writer, mathematicians and photographer. Carroll’s most famous works were Alice in Wonderland and through the Looking Glass, two of the most revered literary texts till date. He wrote many adventure stories for children that adults also thoroughly enjoyed
Lewis Carroll’s real name was Charles Dodgson. He was born 27th January, 1832 in Daresbury, England to Frances Jane Lutwidge and Reverend Charles Dodgson. He was the third of eleven children. His father was a priest in the Church of England for 25 years.
Interests, School, Suffered Life
From a very young age of twelve, he had an interest in mathematics and writing. He was home schooled and excelled in Maths. He won many academic prizes as a child.
In 1844, he attended the Richmond Grammar School at the age of twelve. Later, he went to Rugby School in 1846. Carroll suffered from a fever, which resulted in a deaf ear.
He also stammered, due to which he was bullied while he was in Rugby School. In 1851, he went to Christ Church at Oxford University to pursue studies in Classics and Mathematics. In 1854, he obtained first class in the Honors School of Mathematics and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
After Graduation, Concepts, Poetry
After he graduated, he became a Mathematics lecturer at Christ Church. Most of the books that he published were based on geometry, algebra and mathematical logic. He also presented many mathematical concepts. He resigned from the teaching job 1882 and started to work as a manager at Christ Church College Carroll’s writing career began at a very young age. He started by writing short stories and poetry.
Famous Magazines
He launched his magazine The Rectory Umbrella around 1849. He also wrote for a magazine called the Useful and Instructive Poetry,which was published for over a hundred years. His writing was funny and sarcastic. His articles were published in major publications like The Comic Times and The Train, and also in small magazines like the Whitby Gazette and the Oxford Critic. He first used his pen name “Lewis Carroll for the Train.
Major Works, Den Christ Church
His major work as based on the people whom he admired a lot in his life. He was a friend of the new Dean of Christ Church, Henry Liddell, Lorina, Edith and Alice. His muse was the latter child who he used as the main characters in Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland released by Macmillan Publishers in 1865, he published its sequel called Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There.
The Alice series recounted the adventures of a little girl who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world. The story is considered to be the best children’s fiction in the world.
Success, Fiction work, Books
Carroll remained a teacher even after his success as a writer. In 1876, he published a poem called The Hunting of the Shark.It was also a huge success. This was his last work in non-fiction writing. He released another book in 1895 titled Sylvie and Bruno. But it wasn’t as successful as his previous fiction works.
As an introvert, he was unable to maintain his friendship with adults. He spent most of his time entertaining and playing with children. The central theme of all his books was children, and he created stories for them.
Photography, Nyctograph, Games, Envelops, Sticky tapes
He started to take an interest in photography during 1856. In 1860, he visited his birthplace and took photos of people and places he knew as a kid. He soon became famous as a photographer and as an artist, too. He made portraits of famous people such as Ellen Terry, Dante Lord Salisbury Lord Alfred Tennyson and many more.
In 1880 he gave up photography when he realized that he was no longer passionate about it. Carroll was also recognized as an inventor. He invented “The Wonderland Postage-Stamp Case’ in 1889.
He also improved letter writing, for which he designed a writing tablet called the ‘Nyctograph’. This machine helped people to take notes in the dark. He also created many brain-tester word games.
He developed many rules such as the rule which explained the right margins on a typewriter; he also established the rules of tennis tournaments. He even created a double-sided sticky strip to seal envelopes.
Good bye to the world
Carroll remained unmarried because he wanted to become a priest earlier in life. He died at the age of 66 on 14th January, 1898 after he suffered from pneumonia and influenza. He was buried at the Mount Cemetery in Guildford.