Description
Between 1860 and 1897 Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, known to the ages as Lewis Carroll, produced (in addition to the ""Alice"" books and his well-known photographic works) over 180 booklets, leaflets, pamphlets, and instruction manuals. Varying radically in length and subject matter, they testify to Dodgson's unparalleled creativity and eclecticism. Collected now for the first time, these writings shed light on many of the intellectual and cultural enthusiasms of this eminent Victorian. Famed as a writer, photographer, and mathematician, Dodgson was also a moral crusader and a diligent churchman who nourished a then-illicit passion for the theatre. He was also a prolific creator of games, puzzles and brain twisters. Indeed, one of his earliest independent publications was the 1860 ""Rules for court circular"", a blueprint for an original game bearing some resemblance to rummy. This volume, the first of a planned series, concentrates on the work associated with Dodgson's career as an Oxford don. Much of the material collected here has not appreared in print since the author's lifetime; included among many other items is all the work connected with Dodgson's curatorship of the Christ Church Room. An enthusiastic participant in university life, Dodgson left a lively ""paper trail"" that lavishly documents his positions on various local disputes. He preferred this form of discourse to debates, in which - partly because of a speech impediment - he was not particularly successful. Modern readers are the beneficiaries of this inclination to print: the writings are of interest not only for the logic and high moral principle they display, but also for their genuine wit and whimsy. Appearing in chronological order, the pamphlets are presented with background information placing them in context. Taken together, they offer real insight into Dodgson the man and into the Victorian period in general.
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