Autograph Letter Signed with Drawing of "The Walrus and the Carpenter" after Tenniel

Autograph letter signed "C.L. Dodgson" from the English author known for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as well as for word-play and nonsense poetry. 2 pp., September 11, 1882. Dodgson thanks the unnamed male recipient for a letter and statement of accounts, and mentions the enclosure of "the declaration duly signed" (not present). Legible contemporary docket on verso. Heavily toned and faded, but legible with some difficulty. Old mounts, tear at the top of one sheet, each sheet 5.5 x 3.5 inches (9 x 14 cm). Overall good.

Text, in full: "[...]ton Road, Eastbourne, Sep. 11 / 82. Dear Sir, Thanks for letter & statement of accounts. I enclose the declaration duly signed. Kindly pay the £68 : 8 to my credit with Messrs. Parsons & Co., Old Bank, Oxford. Are you not under some mistake as to the '4 shares' you mention in a steamer now being built? I do not recollect any thing having been said about other steamers than 'Claudius,' 'Glancus,' & 'Crasus.' Faithfully yours, C. L. Dodgson." 

Together with a pen and ink drawing after Tenniel on a cloth doily, illustrating the poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter" (from Through the Looking Glass). The drawing shows the two characters of the memorable poem recited to Alice by Tweedledum and Tweedledee, eating oysters on the beach in a composition also found in the printed book by Tenniel. On a linen doily edged in lace, 5.75 x 6.25 inches (14.5 x 15.5 cm). Some light discoloration, but overall fine.

"The Walrus and the Carpenter" appears in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, published in December 1871. The poem is recited in chapter four, by Tweedledum and Tweedledee to Alice. The most often quoted passage reads:

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax—
Of cabbages—and kings—
And why the sea is boiling hot—
And whether pigs have wings." (17017)

---

Art

Autograph Letter

Literature

• Sold