Carroll’s early sketches

Carroll’s earliest drawings filled sheets of letter-writing paper. Here, he begins with a sketch of a real rabbit, which evolves over the first page into a fully anthropomorphized form. (A study of Alice in profile appears upside-down on the left.) On the second page, Carroll begins working out Alice’s first meeting with the White Rabbit.

Lewis Carroll (1832–1898)
Preliminary sketches of the White Rabbit
Preparatory drawings (graphite and pen-and-ink on paper), 1862-1864
Photography: Christ Church Library
© Governing Body of Christ Church, Oxford