Sunday, January 27, 2008

Jan 27: Alice's Author

On this day in 1832, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was born in England. Better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, he was an author, mathematician, clergyman, and photographer.
His most famous writings Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass (1872) were the inspiration for Disney's 1951 animated feature Alice in Wonderland.
Carroll's tale of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit-hole into a world of fantasy dates back to 3 years before its 1865 publishing. Carroll was rowing down the River Thames (on the way to a picnic) with the 3 daughters of a friend when he created a mystical story to entertain them. The three sisters - Lorina, Alice, and Edith loved the tale so much that Alice (age 10) asked Carroll to write it down. He eventually did and in November 1864, he presented Alice with a manuscript titled Alice's Adventures Underground.
Carroll went on to have success with other written works such as The Hunting of the Snark and Sylvie and Bruno. In 1856 he took up the new art form of photography and over the next 24 years completely mastered the medium.

Click HERE for more January 27 Disney history.

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