CARROLL at OXFORD ÑÑÑÑÑ After graduation from Rugby School and a brief period of teaching at his father's school at Croft, Carroll began his studies at Christ Church College of Oxford University in early 1851. His college was known for its prominent alumni and it's imposing architecture, including the famous "Tom Tower" with its resounding bell, known as "Great Tom." Carroll received a first-class honors degree in mathematics in 1854 and was soon appointed as Lecturer in Mathematics. Many students considered him a dull lecturer, and his delivery was halting until he conquered his stammer late in life. From 1882 to 1892, he served his college as Curator of its Common Room. For most of his adult life, Carroll lived the typical life of an unmarried Oxford don (professor) , tutoring and lecturing, while occupying book-filled rooms on Christ Church's Tom Quad. Oxford made it possible for Carroll's genius to thrive: it offered him a steady, if small, source of income, an opportunity for him to do original research in mathematics and logic, as well as the intellectual stimulation and company of compatible men. Not least of all, Oxford afforded him free time for his writing, his various hobbies and recreations Ð most notably photography. It also tolerated his many eccentricities. Finally, Oxford was the home of Alice Liddell, his favorite child-friend, and her sisters, whose father became dean of Christ Church College in 1855. Carroll's association with Alice would forever change the course of his life and the history of children's literature. A WORD about DETAILS Many decisions regarding this exhibition were made based upon the desire of the curators to present the outstanding Lewis Carroll collections of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center in as simple and straightforward a manner as possible. Although the Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson used his pen name, Lewis Carroll, almost exclusively in connection with his imaginative works such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking-Glass, we have chosen to use it throughout the text of the exhibition rather than switching back and forth between Dodgson and Carroll. We also ask the exhibition audience to assume that, unless otherwise identified, all of the items shown, whether books, photographs, drawings, letters or manuscripts, are by Lewis Carroll himself, and all the published works are first editions. The vast majority of the photographs in the exhibition are from the Gernsheim Collection, the important historical archive which forms the core of the Photography Collection at the Ransom Center. Likewise, the bulk of printed books, pamphlets, and music are part of the extensive Warren Weaver Collection of Lewis Carroll. Some very special items come from the Hanley Collection and the Byron Sewell Collection. In the interest of brevity, we have chosen not to designate which item came from which collection. All bibliographical details are available in various printed and on-line catalogs at the Ransom Center for those who are curiouser and curiouser. As a final note on conservation, the blue-wool color scale you see on some of the mats is used to measure the cumulative effects of light exposure on these items during exhibit. ALBUMS ÑÑÑÑÑ Lewis Carroll was pleased when a child chose to mount a portrait by him and he once noted proudly that Tennyson had his photos hanging on the line in the poet's home at Farringford. But the only professional exhibition of record which contained his work displayed under his true name, Rev. C. L. Dodgson was the fifth annual exhibition of the Photographic Society of London in 1858. With this singular exception, Carroll apparently did not participate in further public exhibition of his work. It was the photographic album which became Carroll's chosen medium of keeping and presenting his photographs. In part this was probably due to the preciousness of the photographs to him. Since the creation of the first paper-based photographs in the 1840s, families in particular tended to collect treasured images within the bound leaves of a single volume, there to store them for later generations. Albums also most likely suited Carroll's retiring personality. He undoubtedly felt more comfortable with the intimate audience of an album-viewing than with a public display. As he wrote in 1891: ÒI do not ever ask more than 2 ladies, at a time, for tea: for that is the outside number who can see the same photographs, in comfort: and to be showing more than one at a time is simply distracting. Nor was an album's portability and personal intimacy to be discounted. As he traveled about with his camera gear he was able to collect the autographs of his sitters and show how their pictures would fit into his album alongside those of his other subjects. The photographer could hold in hand the fruits of his labors, relate the amusing tales and moving anecdotes about his sitters, and prepare the way for inviting others into this special realm. Finally, the album's ability to amuse children and entrance their parents alike was also of great benefit in helping him secure even more young subjects for his lens. Perhaps it is the illustrated volume that holds the most attraction for children and for the child within us all. There may be more than the merely nonsensical in Carroll's little quatrain: "Your picture shall adorn the book That's bound so neatly and moroccoly, With that bright green which every cook Delights to see in beds of cauliflower." CELEBRITIES ÑÑÑÑÑ The matter of celebrity is one of the more arresting aspects of Lewis CarrollÕs contradictory nature. On the one hand he was shy and did not like to have his portrait taken and distributed by other photographers. Although famous for his writings, he confessed to one correspondent that: ÒI donÕt give my photographs. I donÕt want to be known by sight.Ó He felt uncomfortable beyond his own personal world of family, Oxford, friends, and children. Conversely, this Òlion-hunter who hated to be lionized himselfÓ seized many opportunities to have the famous individuals of his day sit before his lens. He pursued the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, to his summer home, called upon him unannounced, and found the Poet Laureate mowing his own yard. He would use friends, associates, and acquaintances to gain introductions to literary, artistic, scientific and political figures, and even to fellow churchmen. The quest for photographs and autographs also helped Carroll overcome his general reserve and the stammer which plagued him throughout his life. Indeed, once having charmed his way into the Rossetti household and produced an excellent series of family portraits, he became so taken with their garden that he obtained permission to have other sitters call on later days and pose there for his camera. He was able, in most instances, to approach both the celebrated and the child Ð for portraits of both are intertwined in his albums. It is also interesting to note that Carroll was, at times, willing to use photography to supplement his income. In more than one instance, he permitted negatives of such notables as Tennyson and Dante Gabriel Rossetti to be used by commercial photographic firms to issue popular carte-de-visite sets for sale to the general public. Yet at the same time, he refused many (but not all) requests from such firms to sit before their cameras for the purpose of issuing commercial sets of his own likeness. FAMILY and FRIENDS ÑÑÑÑÑ Lewis Carroll embarked upon his new-found hobby of photography in 1856 and, like many beginning amateurs, found his subjects among those who knew him best. His most frequent models were often family or friends who were close at hand and interested enough to support him throughout the trial-and-error process which marked his first years of work with the medium. Most certainly sitting before his lens required patience and familiarity. The entire process would have required many minutes of being posed, then sitting while the wet plate was being prepared, and finally Òholding itÓ while the still relatively long exposure was made. Nor was there any certainty of success. The diaries and letters, although consistently reflecting his enthusiasm for photography, also faithfully record the large number of failures of exposure or processing in 1856 and 1857. Thus sisters and brothers could be engaged to pose for any number of exposures only to find that none were up to CarrollÕs standard and might have to be repeated. Still they did sit Ð father, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, school friends, fellow clergy. The photohistorian Helmut Gernsheim has declared this early work to be dull and straightforward Ð indeed, it may be so if compared to his studies of children which soon followed Ð but it remains vitally important because it reflects not only the genesis of a master portraitist but also the aspects of those who gave of their time and devotion to aid in the evolution of this shy yet committed artist. GAMES and PUZZLES ÑÑÑÑÑ Lewis Carroll had an abiding interest, one could almost say an obsession, with puzzles, paradoxes, chess and card games, charades, magic tricks, puns, ciphers, anagrams, acrostic verse, riddles, backgammon, croquet, mazes and labyrinths, handkerchief- and paper-folding, billiards, mnemonics, and all sorts of intriguing mathematical, logical, and linguistic play. All of these interests, of course, are richly reflected in his fiction and verse, often in the captions for his drawings, and sometimes even in his serious works on logic and mathematics. Carroll also was fascinated with all kinds of inventions and gadgets, and was himself an inventor of such things as a miniature traveling chess set, a double-sided adhesive tape, a Nyctograph (for taking notes under the covers at night), and a better mouse trap. He collected all sorts of mechanical inventions for his own use and to amuse and enchant his friends and family. He owned a contrivance for turning the pages of music, two Whiteley Exercisers, an early model of the Hammond Type-Writer (which he used and tried to improve), a friendÕs invention for purifying water, and Dr. MoffattÕs Ammoniaphone Ñ Òfor voice cultivation.Ó On journeys, Carroll carried with him a small black bag full of toys, books, puzzles, and pairs of scissors to use in cutting out patterns. These he used to delight child-friends he was traveling with or those whom he might meet on his way. Always a treat, especially for children, was an invitation to tea or dinner in CarrollÕs apartment where cupboards and rooms were full of games and dolls, a distorting mirror, clockwork animals that walked and jumped, twenty music boxes, and an organette which played tunes such as ÒSanta LuciaÓ when fed circular perforated cards. Most of the games and puzzles which Carroll devised were intended to entertain and amuse, but also to teach. One of his child-friends, Ethel Rowell, said of him: ÒHe gave me a sense of my own personal dignity. He was so punctilious, so courteous, so considerate, so scrupulous not to embarrass or offend, that he made me feel that I counted . . . he was never for a moment patronizing to women or to children.Ó GENRE ÑÑÑÑÑ ÒMy photographing studio on the top of my rooms is finished now, and IÕm taking pictures almost every day. If you come, bring your best theatrical Ôget upÕ, and IÕll do you a splendid picture.Ó Ñ letter to Mary MacDonald, 11 May 1872 It is not surprising to find CarrollÕs child subjects dressed up in costumes and depicted in some form of classical scene. Such attempts to place photography within the genre of high art were not new and Carroll was clearly not a pioneer like other professional photographers of his day, but he was able to bring a certain naturalness to the rather stiff theatricality of this branch of the artÕs development. High-art photography of the nineteenth century was heavily influenced by the styles of painting, especially Classicism and Pre-Raphaelitism, which were favored in Victorian society. The dictates of British culture were weighed in the direction of the culturally uplifting and morally upright schools of art, and photography was expected to instruct and amuse as well. Many practitioners tried to make photography rival painting by attempting to follow the rules of painting and ignore the natural qualities of the photographic medium. Carroll favored many examples of the genre and this, combined with his deeply felt fascination with the theater, led him to imitate elements of the movement. However, amid the costumed figures and sentimentally titled productions of his modest studio, he brought his own particular style to the work. His elaborately prepared tableaux evoke a naturalism that undoubtedly came from his collaboration with his child subjects. MATHEMATICS and LOGIC ÑÑÑÑÑ As a child, Lewis Carroll demonstrated a considerable talent for mathematics, and some of his early logic puzzles made their way into the hand-written family magazines. Pursuing the same career as his clergyman father, Carroll went on to become a teacher of mathematics, first in his fatherÕs school at Croft and later as a faculty member of Christ Church College, Oxford from 1856 until his death. Much of his time was devoted to lecturing and tutoring algebra, formal logic, and geometry to students who were too often poorly prepared and even hostile to these subjects. Carroll went out of his way to assist his pupils by publishing his own supplementary texts and, on occasion, by making some rather dry course material livelier by using games, puzzles, and whimsical humor. For example, one of his texts on logic contains this logical premise: ÒUneducated birds, who lunch on cayenne peppers, are easily provoked.Ó In 1860, Carroll published his first treatise on geometry, and much of his later research centered on Euclid, whose work Carroll considered to be fundamental to the mathematical curriculum. Carroll went on to write several books and numerous pamphlets on such diverse subjects as probability, arithmetic computation, and algebra. Some of these are still used today by mathematicians and logicians. His research in these fields spilled over into the puzzles and games he relished, and which are featured here and in another case later in this exhibition. CarrollÕs fiction, and particularly the two Alice books, are also chock-full of references to mathematics and logic. A little knowledge of his scholarly work adds greatly to our understanding of his most famous books. ÒMY ONE AMUSEMENTÓ ÑÑÑÑÑ In one sense Lewis Carroll and the relatively new medium of photography seemed to be made for each other, for both were the products of their age and subject to their own internal contradictions. During photographyÕs first decades, the battle between art and science raged throughout most levels of society, as photographers, artists, learned societies, and the public in general all came to terms with this wondrous new medium of expression and record. It seemed as if the conflict between head and heart that was so prevalent within photography was ready-made for such a complex individual as Lewis Carroll. Perhaps his attraction to the medium was almost inevitable. Throughout his writings, Carroll characterized photography as many things: art, pastime, recreation, hobby, profession, devotion, entertainment, fascination, practice, chief interest, and his Òone amusement.Ó Photographs were likewise subject to other key expressions: pleasant things, dreams, moments, beauty, memory, likenesses, and Ð not to spare some criticism Ð Ònot much of a substitute for the live. . . .Ó As with writing itself, it is obvious that the medium held his creative and technical interests, and complemented both his intellect and his passion. OTHER PHOTOGRAPHERS ÑÑÑÑÑ On 16 January 1856, shortly before he took up photography, Carroll visited the annual exhibition of the Photographic Society of London. While he saw many examples of the art which was beginning to enthrall him, his diary entry for the evening focused upon Ò. . . a very beautiful historical picture of Lake Price called ÔThe Scene in the Tower,Õ taken from life Ð it is a capital idea for making up pictures.Ó The image apparently has not survived, but we know Price to have been a watercolorist-turned-photographer who specialized in costuming his models to illustrate historical subjects. (Interestingly, the piece anticipates many of the qualities Ð theatricality, child models, historical/literary genre Ð which would be found in CarrollÕs own photographs.) Such genre work was typical of much of the output of the photographers of this era who found their inspiration in work highly derivative if not imitative of the painting styles so popular in Victorian England. We know from the rosters of other exhibitors that Carroll, besides being impressed by Lake Price, also saw the work of such artists as Oscar Gustave Rejlander, Lady Clementina Hawarden, and Julia Margaret Cameron. Rejlander figures in many entries throughout the authorÕs diaries, chiefly in reference to his photographs of children and by being one of the very few for whom Carroll sat for a portrait. Mrs. Cameron appears to be the only one whose work he wrote about critically (and not very favorably, either) but his true judgment of the works of other photographers does not figure in most of his writings. Nonetheless, the artistic styles and conventions of the day did continue to influence Carroll. After 1875 he ceased printing his own negatives, choosing instead to have them printed by professional firms. Chief among these was Robinson & Cherrill in Tunbridge Wells, owned by the leading high-art photographer of the late nineteenth century, Henry Peach Robinson. Robinson later summarized CarrollÕs work: ÒThe technique was much in advance of the photography of the day, and although all of them were portraits, there was evidently great effort made, often successful, to obtain pictorial effect.Ó PHOTOGRAPHY ÑÑÑÑÑ CarrollÕs 25-year career in photography (1856Ð1880) covers that epoch which has often been called the ÒGolden EraÓ of nineteenth-century photography Ð a period largely evolving around the wet collodion negative process and its corresponding positive albumen print process. It therefore comes as no surprise that these were the technical processes utilized and even championed by Carroll throughout his productive years. The actual processes were complex, involving technical expertise, practice, patience and experience to master Ð qualities which certainly seemed to be prevalent within his character and intellect. Few photographic processes have been as difficult as that employing wet collodion. The photographer was first required to set up his camera and tripod and pose his subject before its lens. The next step involved coating and sensitizing a plate of glass in the darkroom (or, if in the field, in a portable darkroom tent), transporting the Òwet plateÓ to the camera, and almost immediately making an exposure upon it. Finally, the plate was returned to the darkroom for rapid developing and fixing before it could dry and ruin the picture. As for the subsequent positive side of the picture-making process, Carroll favored the albumen print almost exclusively, like the vast majority of the amateurs and professionals of his day. Utilizing a binding solution of processed egg whites to hold light-sensitive silver salts onto the coated surface of a thin sheet of paper, the albumen process allowed the wet collodion negatives, once they had been fixed and dried, to be placed in contact with the sensitized paper surface and printed out in the sunlight. The resulting prints were capable of relatively rapid processing and, if printed out and fixed correctly, possessed a lustrous surface and a broad tonal range. Carroll remained a strong advocate for the albumen process throughout his life. The majority of CarrollÕs surviving glass negatives and paper prints within the Ransom Center collections display a mastery of the technique which only a devoted practitioner could accomplish. In the end we must be grateful that he has left us many original prints which still live on Ð the product of his own special looking-glass: namely, his camera. THE DODGSON FAMILY ÑÑÑÑÑ Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the man known to the world by his pen name, Lewis Carroll, was born in Daresbury, Cheshire, England, on 27 January 1832. The Dodgson family moved to the Croft Rectory, Yorkshire, in 1843, when CarrollÕs father, a clergyman, was given a larger parish. Life in the spacious three-story rectory was both demanding and disciplined, with a great deal of attention given to religious training, but the family found time also for light-hearted and creative pursuits. As the first son in a Victorian family of seven girls and four boys, Carroll was the natural leader and instigator of family entertainment and activities ranging from marionette and magic shows to collaborative writings such as The Rectory Magazine. Although he was often away at school, first at Richmond, then Rugby, and finally Oxford, Carroll spent most of his holidays and summers at Croft, even after he was well established at OxfordÕs Christ Church College. CarrollÕs beloved mother died in 1851 and, thereafter, his aunt looked after the younger children. Following his fatherÕs death in 1868, the family had to move from Croft Rectory. CarrollÕs financial success allowed him to purchase a home for them in Guildford. He was generous with both his money and his time: his younger brothers received the benefit of his guidance with their educations, he instructed his sisters in logic, and over the years he provided for family vacations at the seaside. Although Carroll never married, he was, without doubt, a ÒfamilyÓ man. CarrollÕs work as a teacher and mathematician, his hobby of photography, his soaring imagination and fascination with words, and his deeply religious cast of mind Ð all were brought to bear in his friendships with children, the true ÒfamilyÓ of his life. Reflections in a Looking Glass: A Lewis Carroll Centenary Exhibition This exhibition was organized by the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center The University of Texas at Austin Curators Roy Flukinger Senior Curator of Photography and Film John Kirkpatrick Curator of Twentieth-Century British and American Manuscripts Sally Leach Associate Director Richard Oram Head Librarian Robert N. Taylor Archives and Manuscripts Librarian ÑÑÑÑÑ This exhibition owes a great debt to Morton N. Cohen, the biographer of Lewis Carroll and major living expert on his life and works. There is no better source of information about Carroll. Edward Wakeling has identified many previously unidentified photographs for us. ÑÑÑÑÑ Reflections in a Looking Glass: A Lewis Carroll Centenary Exhibition is circulated by Curatorial Assistance, Inc., Los Angeles VIEWS ÑÑÑÑÑ ÒMy time has had few events, other than photographic, to mark it, except a week at Torquay with the Argles, which I enjoyed very much. . . . Most of the time there went in photography and walks among the wonderfully beautiful coast scenery.Ó Ñ from the Diaries, 5 October 1869 An inveterate walker, Carroll favored long walks of many miles whenever he could engage in this pastime. While the singular treks may have appealed to his solitary nature, he undoubtedly found the journeys with fellow scholars or his young friends to be pleasurably stimulating and even productively creative. (After all, a Òday outÓ with Alice Liddell and her sisters, though including boating, turned into his magnum opus.) In all likelihood, however, he probably did not include photography in many of his walks. The wet plate photography which he practiced was a serious enterprise. Even though he did have the requisite portable darkroom tent and his traveling box of equipment and supplies, the entire outfit was bulky and heavy, and customarily involved porters and additional means of transportation whenever he traveled about England with it. As a consequence, there are notably few landscapes or ÒviewsÓ (as they were popularly classed in his day) among the hundreds of images which have survived. And those which are still extant lack any truly imaginative artistry or the distinctive style which evolved through CarrollÕs portraits and groupings. However, he did travel with his camera on occasion and, as a result, he has left us a small number of ÒviewsÓ which, while not prime examples of his art, are still faithful records of the sights and places in which the cameraÕs memory could be employed to aid his own. XIE ÑÑÑÑÑ Ò. . .Woman has magical powers of Intuition Ð a much higher faculty than mere Definition. . . . Here is a riddle Ð ÔWhat is the best way to secure Excellence in a photograph?Õ Answer: ÔFirst you take a Òlence,Ó and then put ÒecceÓ before it.Õ Ó Ñ letter to Alexandra Kitchin, 16 June [1880?] Alexandra (Xie) Rhoda Kitchin was the daughter of the Rev. George William Kitchin, Dean of Winchester and later of Durham. She was also the goddaughter and namesake of Alexandra, Princess of Wales, a childhood friend of her mother. Carroll began photographing Xie in 1868 and continued to use her as a frequent subject for well over a decade throughout this final period of his photographic career. Her portraits ranged from the direct to the fanciful. She was also one of the few child models with whom he continued to correspond throughout her adult life. He considered her to be one of his most amenable and striking models; he recalled in an 1885 letter how he had Òphotographed her nearly 50 times: from 4 years old upwards.Ó The nickname ÒXieÓ was apparently shared by all who knew her. We know it was pronounced ÒEcksyÓ since it was the subject of more than one of CarrollÕs excruciating puns. The photographerÕs sentiment, however, was quite valid: Excellence could be achieved by putting Xie in front of his lens. Alice BOOKS ÑÑÑÑÑ The work for which Lewis Carroll is best remembered grew out of a river outing by Carroll, his friend Robinson Duckworth, and the three young daughters of Dean Liddell, Lorina, Alice and Edith. Carroll first told the girls the story of Alice during that memorable day, July 4, 1862, and, upon their urging, expanded it into a manuscript version shortly thereafter. In November 1864, he presented his manuscript tale, AliceÕs Adventures Under Ground, to Alice Liddell. Carroll soon began to re-write and expand the well-received work. Obtaining the services of one of BritainÕs foremost caricaturists and illustrators, Sir John Tenniel, Carroll presented the finished manuscript to Macmillan in early 1865. At TennielÕs urging, the first printing with the title-page date of 1865 was scrapped by Carroll, and the first truly ÒpublishedÓ Alice is dated 1866. Alice was an immediate success, with 20,000 copies printed by 1870, and a hundred thousand by 1884. The magic world of Alice, the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, and the Cheshire Cat quickly became as much a part of English literature as Falstaff and Oliver Twist. With the end of the bookÕs copyright in 1907, its popularity grew even wider as seemingly numberless publishers issued Alice in every conceivable format and price range. Of this phenomenon, Warren Weaver wrote: ÒThere have been miniature editions, large editions, nursery editions, deluxe editions, comic-strip editions, and dime-store editions. The story has been made into play after play, and been broadcast several times over the radio and television; movies have been made . . . ; it has given birth to song after song.Ó CHILDREN ÑÑÑÑÑ ÒMy dear Annie, I send you A picture, which I hope will B one that you will like to C If your Mamma should D sire one like it, I could E sily get her one. Your affectionate friend, C.L. DodgsonÓ Ñ letter to Annie Rogers, n.d. [1862?] There is little doubt that the crossroads of photography and children ignited a creative spark in Lewis Carroll. Within a decade and a half he had published his two most famous childrenÕs books plus innumerable pieces, fantasies and poems Ñ many evolving, like AliceÕs Adventures in Wonderland, from direct experience with his young friends. In like manner, his photographic style evolved from the merely straightforward work found frequently in his early family albums into a more adventurous and interpretive one that had only previously been hinted at. In an almost magical fashion, photography allowed the natural child and the fanciful artist to combine in the creation of countless examples of memorable images of documentation and interpretation. In a letter from 1877, Carroll tells his correspondent that he considers himself Òan amateur-photographer whose special line is ÔchildrenÕ.Ó He then encourages the recipient to bring the children by to meet him Ònot [to] be photographed then and there (I never succeed with strangers), but to make acquaintance with the place and the artist, and to see how they relished the idea of coming, another day, to be photographed.Ó Carroll has left us with some of the most profound portraits of children ever created with camera and photochemistry. And the portraits will endure because Carroll understood his age, his subjects and his society, almost as well as he understood himself.