A FAMOUS BACHELOR

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4533, 6 February 1942, Page 6

A FAMOUS BACHELOR

“ ALICE IN WONDERLAND ” CAREER OF ITS CREATOR A POPULAR MATHEMATICIAN • (By P.R.) ‘ Mention the name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the one hundred and tenth anniversary of whose birth occurred on 27th January of this year, and most people will probably exclaim, “ Wiry, that was the Lewis Carroll who wrote ‘ Alice in Wonderland.’ ” They will probably add that the original Alice was a small girl named Alice Liddell, to whom the famous story was told little by little on summer afternoons before it was put to paper, that it made a good deal of money for the author, and that it has been translated into several languages. But of the author himself they know little, and rarely guess that this remarkable bachelor, who loved and understood children so well, was; by profession not a writer but a mathematician. EUCLID AS A SOPORIFIC Lewis Carroll’s whole adult life was spent in the environs of the college at Christ Church, Oxford, where he was a.master and tutor. Mathematics were his delight, and, although he had to spend much time trying to make unwilling students share his enthusiasm, he so retained h-is liking for this subject that he spent many free hours writing dozens of books and pamphlets on such topics as “ Propositions in Euclid,” “ Examples in Arithmetic,” “ Algebraical Formulae and Rules,” and “ Condensation of Determinants.” His interest in these topics kept him busy, and it was often four o’clock in the morning before he had finished handling some difficult problem to his own satisfaction. So much mental labour eventually caused him to suffer from sleeplessness. Instead of being concerned over his lack of sleep, as a lesser man would have been, he pqssed these wakeful hours in thinking out new problems, and even went so far as to call one such intellectual collection Pillow Problems ” ! While on the subject of sleeplessness,. it is interesting to note that Lewis Carroll’s theory was that “ real mental work is a most helpful ally ” at such times because it banibhes those unhappy worrying thoughts which assume such dangerous proportions during attacks of insomnia. PLEASURABLE MATHEMATICS Mathematics were his recreation as well as his livelihood, and he found much pleasure in carrying on by correspondence mathematical controversies with learned friends. Inventing new games and puzzles was another pastime, and a number of these were published. In them flashes of his delightful sense of humour can be found

as in the following nonsense proposition entitled “ To Estimate Profit and Loss.” “Example: Given a Derby Prophet, who has sent three different winners to three different betting men, and given tfyat none of the three horses is placed. Find the total loss incurred by the three men (a) in money, (b) in temper. Find also the Prophet. Is this latter usually possible ? ” As a cliahge from figures Lewis Carroll wrote verse and critical articles which were published in various magazines, his nonsense rhymes being considered his best efforts. Children’s books, none of them as popular as his first, “ Alice in Wonderland,” followed; and, as he was very particular about the illustrating of them, he indulged in a lot of correspondence with artists. At one time he thought to develop his own small talent for drawing, hoping apparently to be able to decorate his own stpries, but he gave up. the idea. His artistic leanings were, however, partly satisfied by the hobby of photography, in which lie was both interested and successful. Many children acted as subjects for his camera, and copies of his pictures seen to-day show what an excellent photographer he was. The drama was another hobby for which he had an intense love, and in the diary which he wrote up regularly all his life there are many references to plays and players he had seen. A MATHEMATICIAN’S MENU For a mathematician his choice of friends was surprising, numbers of them being literary and artistic. He knew Ruskin, Tennyson, Thackeray, Charlotte M. Yonge, Sir John Tenniel, Ellen Terry, and others who made names for themselves in religion, law, and medicine. He was fond of entertaining, and to make sure that his guests would not be served the same dishes too often, he kept a menu book, which showed clearly what was offered to different friends when they came to dine. His diary, apart from telling many facts about the writer himself, gives some clear pictures of his contemporaries. Of Thackeray he wrote: “ His manner is simple and unaffected; he shows no anxiety to shine in conversation, though full of fun and anecdote when drawn out.” And of Tennyson: “A strange, shaggy-looking man; his hair, moustache, and beard looked wild and neglected. His hair is black. I think his eyes, too; they were keen mid restless. His manner was kind and friendly; there is a dry, lurking humour in his style of talking.” As a raconteur Lewis Carroll had few equals. His services as a lecturer were often in demand for the entertainment and enlightenment of both adults and children. His stories for children, thought out on the spur of the moment, were a delight both to them and their parents. For him the young seemed to have a particular appeal, and once a friendship was started he developed it by writing droil letters, which must have given much happiness to the youthful recipients. He made friends with children anywhere and everywhere; gardens, trains, and beaches were his happy hunting grounds. His pockets

were always lined with little games and puzzles destined for chance acquaintances, and when children visited him at his rooms he had for their entertainment musical boxes, an organette, and clockwork animals. It was astounding that such a busy man who, apart from his tutoring, had as many as ten literary efforts on hand at once, could find enough time to cultivate these child friendships. Lewis Carroll made a good deal of money from his publications, but instead of spending it on luxuries for himself, he gave generously to charit- j able institutions and needy friends. As well as cash donations, autographed copies of “ Alice in Wonderland ” and “ Through the LookingGlass ’’ were sent to sick children in the hope that these ingenious tales would gladden them just as they had pleased more fortunate children. A PURE LITERARY RILL Boating, walking, book collecting, and the study of medicine were the other hobbies of this versatile man, hobbies that enriched his life and increased the number of his friends. Indeed, the making and keeping of friends seemed to be one of his outstanding qualities, and after he died on 14th January, 1898,/nany striking pages were written in appreciation of him and his talents. Of these the following is interesting:— “ The world will think of Lewis Carroll as one who opened out a new vein in literature, a new and delightful vein, which added at once mirth and refinement to life. May we not say that from our courts at Christ Church there has flowed into the literature of our time a rill, bright and sparkling, health-giving and purifying, wherever its waters extended 1 ”