Lewis Carroll Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles L. Dodgson January 27, 1832 in Daresbury, England Third child born to a family of eleven children From a very early age he entertained himself and his family by performing magic tricks and marionette shows, and by writing poetry for his homemade newspapers.

Lewis Carroll In the spring of 1848, he caught a case of whooping cough Carroll became deaf in one ear after battling a fever. Stuttering problem six feet tall, slender and considered handsome, with curling brown hair and blue or grey eyes.

Education Writer, deacon, photographer, and mathematician On his fourteenth birthday, he entered Rugby School

Education 1851: Undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford (mother’s death) 1852-98: Student of Christ Church (equivalent to a fellowship carrying a small stipend). 1854: B.A., Christ Church, Oxford First Class Honors in Mathematics, Second Class in Classics. He left Rugby at the end of 1849 and, after an interval which remains unexplained, went on in January 1851 to Oxford: to his father's old college, Christ Church. Oxford and beyond He had only been at Oxford two days when he received a summons home. His mother had died of "Inflammation of the Brain" — perhaps meningitis or a stroke — at the age of forty-seven.

Education 1857: M.A., Christ Church, Oxford 1861: Ordained deacon, Church of England in Christ Church Cathedral

Photography 1856: Takes up photography, his main hobby for twenty-five years Ideals of freedom and beauty into the innocence of Eden Retrieving lost innocence -when he took up photography he sought with his own representations, to combine the ideals of freedom and beauty into the innocence of Eden, where the human body and human contact could be enjoyed without shame. In his middle age, he was to re-form this philosophy into the pursuit of beauty as a state of Grace, a means of retrieving lost innocence.

Carroll and Photography Carroll found photography to be a useful entrée into higher social circles and photographed notable sitters. Above is his photograph of the family of the artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Rossetti is at the left of the picture. Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Carroll with Louisa MacDonald, wife of the writer of fairy stories George MacDonald and four of the MacDonald children 1862 Story of Alice’s adventures told to Alice Liddell and her sisters on a boat-trip to Godstow (July 4); manuscript of Alice’s Adventures Under-Ground begun soon after.

Controversy Motivation and nature of Carroll? Photography and paintings, were young girls usually between the ages of 10-15. nude or semi-nude. From around the 1930s on, biographers and scholars alike have questioned the motivation and nature behind Dodgson’s relationship with the younger females in his life. While nothing is certain at all, it’s widely known that many of the subjects in his writing, as well as his photography and paintings, were young girls… usually between the ages of 10-15. Speaking specifically to his photographic work, it’s said that over half of his remaining portfolio depicts young girls, many of whom are nude or semi-nude. His affection for younger girls, many of whom inspired the stories he wrote, has led many to hint at or downright conclude that Dodgson may very well have been paedophilic in nature.

The Liddell sisters: photograph by Lewis Carroll The Liddell sisters: photograph by Lewis Carroll. (National Portrait Gallery)

In 1858 a new Dean, Henry Liddell, arrived at Christ Church, bringing with him his young family, all of whom would figure largely in Carroll's life and, over the following years, greatly influence his writing career.

Alice Liddell Alice Pleasance Liddell was the 10-year-old daughter of Henry who enjoyed Carroll’s story the most. The story was about a bored little girl named Alice who goes in search of an adventure. She asked Carroll to write the story down, and this was the beginning of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. -It was commonly believed that Alice Liddell inspired the children's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, although Lewis Carroll himself vehemently denied it, saying that the literary Alice was a composite of a number of children he had known.

The famous Victorian artist and Punch cartoonist, Sir John Tenniel, is remembered today as the illustrator of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871). The books have been illustrated countless times but for many people the original drawings by Tenniel have never been surpassed. His images epitomize the characters in the books. Tenniel successfully captured the author’s intended vision. Let’s have a look at a few of the illustrations.

“Drink Me” Sir John Tenniel’s illustration for the first chapter of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland

The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party

January 14, 1898 of pneumonia following influenza January 14, 1898 of pneumonia following influenza. He was 2 weeks away from his 66th birthday