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22 March 2012
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In the quaint little old church at Vowchurch, in Herefordshire, I found this - a photograph of Skeffington, Lewis Carroll's brother, who was vicar there over a hundred years ago.

Carroll spent a lot of time and trouble trying to sort Skeffington out. Skeffington today might have been diagnosed with some kind of problem - perhaps Asberger Syndrome. He liked doing the same thing over and over again, but was very kind and affectionate. He failed his exams and had great difficulty settling down in a job, but he remained very persistent.

His children were very fond of him, despite his funny ways, and his marriage was happy. In fact, in some ways, he was the one out of eleven Dodgson children who lived what we might call a normally happy life, married to someone he loved, in a job he liked, in an environment that suited him. He loved to fish in the local river - fishing, too, was a hobby he had persisted with all his life.



08 March 2012
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I closed comments on this blog a year or two ago because I was getting plagued by spam. Although I moderated comments, it was such a chore. I'll see if the spammers have gone away. (I suspect many readers of the blog have gone away by now, too!)

I've just last week received a very nice PLR cheque, so the book is being borrowed from libraries, but I'm now moved on to other projects so I haven't been keeping this blog up as much as I did a while back when I was involved with the book. (Check out my other blog, www.jennywoolftravel.blogspot.com)

But of course I'm still interested in Mr. Dodgson and his life. The picture above shows him in his early twenties, in pensive mood.

And here's the latest circular from the Lewis Carroll Society in London
This is to remind you that on the 16 March we will have one of our popular meetings comprising short talks by members actively engaged in research.

Ella Parry-Davies's talk, 'Unframing Wonderland' looks at how the Soviet cultural context and a range of exciting Alice illustrations by Russian artists shed a new light on the nature and the importance of Nonsense, and on the relationship between words and images in the illustrated book.

In preparation for this Summer's 150th anniversary celebration of the original telling of 'Alice's Adventures Under Ground', Selwyn Goodacre has been examining the original 'Alice' manuscript and the various facsimile editions that have been produced.

Franziska Kohlt's talk, 'Victorian Wonderlands Revisited', presents an outline of her Ph.D research, which explores the travels to fantastic realms in alternative states of mind in Victorian literature.

It should be an entertaining and thought-provoking evening.

Talks begin at 19:00 (NB please arrive after 18:15)

And please take careful note of the venue!

Gradidge Room (upstairs)
Art Workers' Guild
6 Queen Square
London
WC1N 3AT.