Presented by the Author for the Use of Sick Children

Lewis Carroll was a generous man and from time to time prepared copies of his books to be given away to hospitals for the use of sick children.

This book, in poor condition, was rescued from an auction and tells a story all of its’ own.

In July 1890 Lewis Carroll presented copies of his “Nursery Alice” printed in 1889 to hospitals. These are identified by a rectangular ink stamp at the top of the half title page saying “Presented by the Author for the Use of Sick Children July 1890”. The binding was a brown linen cloth and here a loop of string is perhaps a vestige of a tie on the ward. This 1889 printing was designed for an American first edition but the hospital copies, unlike the copies that went to America, did not have the 1889 title page replaced with an 1890 title page mounted on a stub (see Goodacre, Jabberwocky Summer 1994 pg.34).

This copy is brought alive by the graffiti and drawings of one Maud Amelia Spence aged 10, who was a patient in Cot No 16 on Louise Ward, Great Ormond Street in 1890. She seems to have taken ownership of the book and done everything except tear it to shreds – just as Dodgson himself said he intended for child readers of the Nursery Alice.

The book was acquired in July 2005 at Cheffins of Cambridge for £82. I thought it was rather special and touching.

Unusual Things in Unusual Places

In April 2006 Holloways of Banbury held an Antique Furniture Sale, which contained a single lot of a box of Lewis Carroll books. They all had one thing in common – they came from the estate of Sir Harold Hartley, the famous scientist and Lewis Carroll collector. One of the books was a People’s edition of Through the Looking Glass signed by John Tenniel; several had Hartley’s bookplate; there was a copy of the Bumpus special edition 1932 Lewis Carroll Centenary catalogue signed by all the executive committee; and others. The highlight was the two volume Parrish collection catalogue set with an original slipcase and a memoranda note, although not naming him, but to “you and all your family”. The set was numbered in red ink “10”, a low number signifying an important collector.

Shown in the pictures is Harold Hartley’s “The Pursuing Conscience” bookplate. It was a good find in an unusual sale. I found it using the search engine at www.the-saleroom.com using the search word Tenniel, because Carroll had been mis-spelt Carrol.

Charles Dodgson Senior

According to Lewis Carroll’s Diaries ( ed Edward Wakeling) Vol 1, pgs 16-17, the family had moved from Daresbury into Croft Rectory by February 1843 when Charles Dodgson Senior was presented to the living of Croft. Rev Charles Dodgson ( father of Lewis Carroll) had published various essays and sermons in pamphlet form and in The Carrollian issue 16 ( Autumn 2005) I describe two of these that I acquired , dating from around that period . Since then I have found two other CD senior pamphlets, shown in the pictures ; these are very rare and hard to find. They were often bound up in volumes and then sold as disbound items by booksellers.