Lewis Carroll (self-portrait, c. 1857)

Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) (1832-98)

c.1857

Albumen print

5 1/2 in. x 4 5/8 in. (140 mm x 117 mm)

Purchased with help from Kodak Ltd, 1973

Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London

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Lewis Carroll is seen here as a young man, sprucely dressed, and lost in a book. [Commentary continues below.]

Carroll's first biographer, his nephew Stuart Dodgson Collingwood, tells us that a certain Miss Anderson, "who used to stay at the Deanery," and "had very remarkable 'clairvoyant' powers," described Lewis Carroll's character at this time in terms that often seem appropriate to this portrait:

Very clever head; a great deal of number; a great deal of imitation; he would make a good actor; diffident; rather shy in general society; comes out in the home circle; rather obstinate; very clever; a great deal of concentration; very affectionate; a great deal of wit and humour; not much eventuality (or memory of events); fond of deep reading; imaginative, fond of reading poetry; may compose."

Collingwood adds, "Those who knew him well will agree that this was, at any rate, a remarkable coincidence" (56). — Jacqueline Banerjee

Related Material

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll): A Brief Biography

Reference

Collingwood, Stuart Dodgson. The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll (Rev. C. L. Dodgson). London: Unwin, 1898. Internet Archive. Web.10 May 2015. From the Fisher Walsh collection, University of Toronto. Web. 11 May 2015.

Created 11 May 2015