Snarks, Jabberwocks, Crocodiles, & Mice Tails: Lewis Carroll, the Poet and the Parodist, Illuminated: An Exhibition in the UCLA Library Department of Special Collections November 2, 1998

UCLA Library Department of Special Collections
Exhibition checklist

"Snarks, Jabberwocks, Crocodiles, & Mice Tails:
Lewis Carroll, the Poet and the Parodist, Illuminated"

An Exhibition in the UCLA Library Department of Special Collections
November 2, 1998 - January 31, 1999

I
Lewis Carroll delighted in turning the poetical canon, songs, and nursery rhymes of his day into parodies. Scholars then set about discovering his original sources. Fifteen parodies from "Alice" and "Through the Looking-Glass" are shown here. They are accompanied in all but one example with some edition of the original source. (Cases 1-5)

Case 1:

The Parody: "How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail...."

Chamberlain, Sarah. How Doth the Little Crocodile by Lewis Carroll. Portland, Oregon: Chamberlain Press 1981?

One of 50 broadsides signed by the artist. This is #33.

The Source:

"How doth the little busy bee Improve each shining hour..."

"Songs XX: Against Idleness and Mischief," in Isaac Watts, Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language: for the Use of Children, The twenty-fifth edition. London: Printed for T. Longman, J. Buckland, W. Fenner, J. Waugh, E. Dilly, and T. Field, 1761.

"No. 20: Against Idleness and Mischief," in Isaac Watts, Divine and Moral Songs for Children. London: R. Miller, 1816.

The Parody:

"You are old father William, the young man said..."

"You Are Old, Father William," in Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures Under Ground: being a facsimile of the original ms. book afterwards developed into "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". London: Macmillan and Co., 1886.

"You Are Old Father William," in Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland, illustrated by Ralph Steadman. London: Dennis Dobson, 1967.

The Source:

"You are old, Father William, the young man cried."

"The Old Man's Comforts, and How He Gained Them," in The Annual Anthology, Volume I. Bristol: Biggs and Co. for T.N. Longman and O. Rees, 1799.

The Parody:

"Speak roughly to your little boy, And beat him when he sneezes..."

"Speak Roughly to Your Little Boy," in Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland. Mount Vernon: Peter Pauper Press, 194-.

The Source:

"Speak gently, it is better far To rule by love than fear..." by David Bates.

Case 2: The Parody: "Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you're at!"

"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat," in Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with forty-two illustrations by John Tenniel. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1866.

The Source:

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star! How I wonder what you are."

"The Star," in Ann Taylor, Rhymes for the Nursery, fifth edition. London: Darton, Harvey, and Co., 1811.

The Parody:

"'Will you walk a little faster,' said a whiting to a snail..."

"The Mock Turtle's Song," in Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with forty-two illustrations by John Tenniel. London: Macmillan and Co., 1866.

The Source:

"'Will you walk into my parlour?' said the spider to the fly..."

"The Spider and The Fly, an Apologue," in Mary Botham Howitt, Sketches of Natural History. London: Effingham Wilson, 1836.

The Parody:

"'Tis the voice of the lobster; I heard him declare..."

"Tis the Voice of the Lobster," in Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Through the Looking-Glass, with ninety-two illustrations by John Tenniel. New York: Macmillan and Co., 1885.

The Source:

"'Tis the voice of the sluggard, I heard him complain..."

"The Sluggard," in Isaac Watts, Divine Songs: Attempted in Easy Language for the Use of Children, second edition. London: Printed for M. Lawrence, 1716.

The Parody:

"She's all my fancy painted him (I make no idle boast)..."

"The White Rabbit's Verses," in Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Illustrations by Willy Pogany. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1929.

The Source:

"She's all my fancy painted her, She's lovely, she's divine..."

"Alice Gray," in Six Popular Songs. Glasgow: Printed for the Booksellers, n.d.

Case 3: The Parody: "I passed by his garden, and marked, with one eye..."

"I Passed by His Garden," in Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Illustrations by Willy Pogany. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1929.

The Source:

"Come take up you hats and away let us haste..."

The Butterfly's Ball and Grasshopper's Feast: a Pretty Toy for Boys and Girls. New York: S. King, 1825.

Panorama of the Butterfly's Ball. Otley: W. Walker & Sons, 1835.

The Parody:

"Beautiful soup, so rich and green
Waiting in a hot tureen!"

"Beautiful Soup," in Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, illustrated by Arthur Rackham. New York: Viking Press, 1975.

The Source:

"Beautiful Star in heaven so bright,
Softly falls thy silvery light..."

"Star of the Evening," song and chorus. Words and melody by James M. Sayles, harmonized and arranged by Henry Tucker. Albany: J. H. Hidley, 1855.

Also on display in this case:
"Tweedledum & Tweedledee" in Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass, illustrated by Ralph Steadman. London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1972.

Case 4: The Parody: "And hast thou slain the jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beemish boy!"

"The Jabberwocky," in Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice found There. London: Macmillan and Co., 1872.

The Source:

"Why does your brand sae drap wi' blude, Edward, Edward?"

"Edward," in William Edmondstoune Aytoun, The Ballads of Scotland, volume II. Edinburgh: W. Blackwood, 1858.

The Parody:

"The sun was shining on the sea, Shining with all his might..."

"The Walrus and the Carpenter," in Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice found There. New York and London: Macmillan and Co., 1872.

The Source:

"'Twas in the prime of summer time, An evening calm and cool..."

"The Dream of Eugene Aram," in Thomas Hood, Poems. London: Edward Moxon, 1846.

The Parody:

"In winter when the fields are white
I sing a song for your delight..."

"Humpty Dumpty's Poem," in Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, illustrated by Peter Newell. New York and London: Harper and Brothers Publishers, 1902.

The Source:

"The shades of night were falling fast
As through an Alpine village passed..."

"Excelsior," in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Complete Poetical Works. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906.

Case 5: The Parody: "I'll tell thee everything I can There's little to relate..."

"The White Knight's Song," in Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. Boston: Lothrop, Lee, and Shepard, 1898.

The Source:

"I give thee all - I can no more - Tho' poor the offering be..."

"Resolution and Independence," in The Manuscripts of William Wordsworth's Poems, in two volumes (1807) A facsimile with an introduction by W. H. Kelliher. London: The British Library, 1984.

The Parody:

"Hush-a-by lady, in Alice's lap! Till the feast's ready, we've time for a nap..."

"The Red Queen's Lullaby," in Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, illustrated by Peter Newell. New York and London: Harper and Brothers Publishers, 1902.

The Source:

"Hush-a-bye baby, upon the tree top,
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock..."

"Hush-a-bye, baby...," in The Only True Mother Goose Melodies: Without Addition or Abridgement: Embracing Also A Reliable Life Of The Goose Family, Never before Published. Boston: G.W. Cottrell, 1833?

The Parody:

"To the Looking-Glass world it was Alice that said..."

"To the Looking-Glass World," in Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Through the Looking-Glass, with sixty-six illustrations by Mervyn Peake. London: Bibliophile Books, 1985.

The Source:

"To the Lords of Convention, 'twas Claver'se who spoke..."

"Song. Air-The Bonnets of Bonny Dundee," in Sir Walter Scott, The Doom of Devorgoil, a Melo-drama. Auchindrane; or, the Ayrshire Tragedy. Edinburgh: Cadell, 1830.

Also on display in this case:
"The Beaver's Lesson" in The Hunting of the Snark, an Agony in Eight Fits by Lewis Carroll. Illustrated with innumerable lines by Ralph Steadman. London: Michael Dempsey, 1975.

II Lewis Carroll's serious poems are less well-known. According to Morton Cohen, in Lewis Carroll: a Biography (1995), they "are sentimental, traditional, glum. One wonders why [he] chose such morose subjects..."

Carroll admired Tennyson greatly and also looked to Swinburne, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Blake, and Longfellow for poetic themes, turn of phrase, and meter. (Cases 6-11)

Case 6:

Carroll, Lewis. Useful and Instructive Poetry. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1954. This is the first publication of Lewis Carroll's first book composed in 1845 when he was thirteen.

Carroll, Lewis. The Rectory Umbrella and Mischmasch. London: Cassell & Company, 1932.

The first full publication of two of the eight Dodgson family manuscript magazines for which Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (AKA Lewis Carroll) was editor.

"The Sailor's Wife," by Lewis Carroll, in The Train: a First-Class Magazine, Vol. III-from January to June, 1857. London: Groombridge and Sons, 1857.

Moser, Barry. Portrait of Lewis Carroll, n.d.

Case 7:

"Paths of Roses," in Lewis Carroll, Three Sunsets and Other Poems. London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1898. This poem was written in praise of Florence Nightingale.

"Atalanta in Camden-Town" in Lewis Carroll, Phantasmagoria: and Other Poems. London: Macmillan and Co., 1869.

Shown with its source: Swinburne, Algernon Charles. Atalanta in Calydon. A Tragedy. London: Edward Moxon & Co., 1865.

"Stolen Waters," in Lewis Carroll, Three Sunsets and Other Poems. London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1898.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Case 8:

"Four Riddles, II," by Lewis Carroll, in Rhyme? And Reason?. London: Macmillan & Co., 1883. "Empress of art...," a riddle in verse, was written by Lewis Carroll after seeing the actress, Ellen Terry, in Hamlet. Later, family members believed him to have been disappointed in love. The lady in question was thought to be Miss Terry.

"Four Riddles, IV," by Lewis Carroll, in Rhyme? And Reason?. New York: Macmillan & Co., 1884.

This verse riddle was written after seeing Marion Terry, Ellen Terry's younger sister, in a performance of the play, Pygmalion and Galatea by Gilbert.

Photograph of Ellen Terry, n.d. Photographer unknown.

Case 9:

"Hiawatha's Photographing," by Lewis Carroll, in The Train: a First-Class Magazine, Vol. VI-from July to December, 1857. London: Groombridge and Sons, 1857. Shown with its source: Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. The Song of Hiawatha. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1855.

"The Dream of Fame" by C.L.D., in College Rhymes, Contributed by Members of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge ..., Volume III. Oxford, T. & G. Shrimpton, 1862.

Shown with its source: Tennyson, Alfred. Maud, and Other Poems. London, Edward Moxon, 1855.

Case 10:

"Photograph of Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson," in Lewis Carroll: Photos and Letters to His Child Friends, edited by Guido Almansi. Parma, Italy: Franco Maria Ricei, 1975.

"The Opening Poem [incorporates Alice Liddell's middle name: 'Pleasance']," in Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. Boston: Lee and Shephard, 1872.

Carroll, Lewis. Sylvie and Bruno. London: Macmillan and Co., 1889.

The preface ends with a quotation from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
Shown with its source: Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. San Francisco: John Henry Nash, 1926.

Case 11:

"Solitude," by Lewis Carroll, in The Train: a First-Class Magazine, Vol. I-from January to June, 1856. London: Groombridge and Sons, 1856. This was Charles L. Dodgson's first published poem to carry the name "Lewis Carroll." The pseudonym was based on a latinized reversal of "Charles Lutwidge."
Shown with its source: "Fears in Solitude," in Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Poetical Works of S.T. Coleridge : Including The Dramas of Wallenstein, Remorse, and Zapolya. London: William Pickering, 1829.

"The Three Voices," by Lewis Carroll, in The Train: a First-Class Magazine, Vol. II-from July to December, 1856. London: S. O. Beeton, 1856.

Shown with its source: "The Two Voices," in Alfred Tennyson, Poems, Volume II, Second Edition. London: Edward Moxon, 1843.

Photograph of Alfred Tennyson, Lewis Carroll's poet hero; an enlargement of a carte de visite photograph said to be taken by Carroll, n.d.

"A Sea-Dirge," by Lewis Carroll, in College Rhymes, Contributed by Members of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge ..., Volume II. Oxford, T. & G. Shrimpton, 1861.

This poem has the metrical pattern of Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee."
Shown with its source: "Annabel Lee: a Ballad," by Edgar Allan Poe, Sartain Union Magazine of Literature, 1850.

III
The Garland of Rachel and Lewis Carroll
The Garland of Rachel is the most celebrated of Daniel Press imprints. According to Madan: "Mr. Thomas Humphrey Ward made a suggestion to Dr. C. H. O. Daniel, presumably in 1880, that the first birthday of the latter's daughter deserved to be celebrated with special poems by his friends to be printed at the Daniel Press. Some of his friends were too diffident of their powers, some evaded the task and made delays ... but a goodly band of seventeen responded boldly to the call, and the printer-editor added one contribution himself unsigned." Lewis Carroll was among the contributors.

Case 12:

Correspondence (now at the Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA) from Rev. Charles L. Dodgson to Dr. Daniel indicates that Dodgson may have been a reluctant contributor to The Garland of Rachel. ALS from Rev. Charles L. Dodgson to Dr. Daniel, November 22, 1880 (facsimile)
ALS from Rev. Charles L. Dodgson to Dr. Daniel, March 7, 1881 (facsimile)

"Two Poems to Rachel Daniel, I," in Lewis Carroll, The Collected Verse of Lewis Carroll. New York: Macmillan Company, 1933.

The first (and not very flattering) poem written presumably for The Garland.

"What hand may wreathe thy natal crown," by Lewis Carroll in "The Garland of Rachel," broadside. Claremont, CA: Oldtown Press, 1990.

The poem which appeared in The Garland.

"What hand may wreathe thy natal crown...," by Lewis Carroll, in Oxford: Printed at the private press of H. Daniel, 1881.

This copy is on loan from the William W. Clary Oxford Collection, The Honnold Library, The Libraries of the Claremont Colleges. Only thirty-six copies of the book were printed. Eighteen copies were bound for the poets and seventeen were issued at various times in various bindings. Rubricated initials were added by Mrs. Daniel. However, this copy lacks her rubrication. The last copy, in sheets, was given to Thomas B. Mosher of Maine in December 1901. It was from this copy that Mosher reprinted The Garland in the United States in 1902.

"The Tiger," by William Blake, Songs of Innocence and of Experience. London: W. Pickering and W. Newbery, 1839.

This Blake poem may have inspired Lewis Carroll's final contribution to The Garland.

IV
Lewis Carroll's monsters: The Snark and the Jabberwock have tested the talents of many illustrators.

Case 13:

Carroll, Lewis. The Hunting of the Snark, an Agony, in Eight Fits, with nine illustrations by Henry Holiday. London: Macmillan and Co., 1876.

Carroll, Lewis. The Hunting of the Snark, Being a Poem in Eight Fits. Decorated by Cobbledick. Mount Vernon: Peter Pauper Press, 194-.

Carroll, Lewis. The Hunting of the Snark. London: Macmillan, 1876.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, Lewis. The Jabberwock (San Francisco: William T. Farnan, 1980. Copy number 17 of 250.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, Lewis. Jabberwocky as arranged as a play with music by Maryline Poole Adams. Berkeley, CA: Poole Press, 1987.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, Lewis. Jabberwocky, illustrated by Nick Bantock. New York: Viking, 1991.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, Lewis. Jabberwocky...illustrated by Graeme Base. New York: Abrams, 1989.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, Lewis. The Walrus & the Carpenter, illustrated by Nick Bantock. New York: Viking, 1992.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

V Shaped poetry, words of poems organized to represent some object or shape, has appeared in every literature since the dawn of poetical language in the ancient world. Shown here in many translations are examples of the shaped poem, "The Mouse's Tale," from Alice in Wonderland. There is some variation from language to language, but in most cases the tail of the mouse remains recognizable. (Cases 14-15)

Case 14:

"A Caucus Race and a Long Tale," in Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, twelve illustrations with original woodcuts and an original etching by Salvador Dali. New York: Maecenas Press, 1969. Edition of 2,500. (This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, Lewis. Alice's adventures in wonderland, translated and annotated by Hideko Inouye. Tokyo: Kaibunsha, 1953.

Inscribed to Frances Sayers by the translator.
(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, Lewis. Alicja w krainie czarow. Nasza Ksiegarnia Warszawa, 1969.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, Lewis. De avonturen van Alice in wonderland. Uitgave: Hollandia B.V. Baarn, 1978.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, Lewis. Elisi katika nchi ya ajabu. London: The Sheldon Press, 1965.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Case 15:

Alitji in dreamland alitjinya ngura tjukurmankuntjala... Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1992. (This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, L. Alice nel paese delle meraviglie. Milano: Editrice AMZ, 1963.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, Lewis. Alica u zemlji cudesa. Zagreb: Matica Hrvatska, 1944.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, Lewis Alice Csodaorszagban. Budapest: Mora Ferenc Konyvkiado, 1974.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, Lewis. Alice im wunderland. Germany: Sudwest Verlag Munchen, n.d.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, Lewis. Alice im wunderland. Switzerland: Artemis-Verlag Zurich und Stuttgart, 1960.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, Lewis. Alice's adventures... Russian edition, 1975.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, Lewis. Alices aventyr I sagolandet och bakom spegelin. Stockholm: Jan Forlag, 1945.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, Lewis. Alicia en el pais de las maravillas. Mexico: Editorial Diana, 1964.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Carroll, Ludovici. Alicia in terra mirabili. New York: St Martin's Press Inc., 1964.

(This copy has been loaned by Hilda Bohem.)

Acknowledgments: The curator would like to thank the following people for their helpful ideas and suggestions regarding this exhibition:

Anna Lou Ashby, New York Jean Beckner, Claremont Hilda Bohem, Los Angeles Morton N. Cohen, New York Sue Hodson and Rebecca Tuttle, San Marino
	Susan M. Allen, Head, Department of Special Collections November 1998

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