BIB_ID
249711
Accession number
MA 6391
Creator
Sullivan, Arthur, 1842-1900.
Display Date
London, 1877 March 30.
Credit line
Gift of Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., 1987.
Description
1 item (3 pages) ; 17.8 x 11.4 cm
Notes
The letter has Carroll's letter record number at upper right on the first page.
On mourning stationery, with embossed letterhead: "8, Albert Mansions, / S. W."
This item is part of the Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., Lewis Carroll collection. The large collection includes printed books, letters, manuscripts, puzzles and games, personal effects and ephemera, which have been cataloged separately.
Removed from the "Carrolliana" album (MA 6347) assembled by Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., folio 6.
The letter is addressed to "The Revd. C. L. Dodgson." Charles Lutwidge Dodgson adopted the pseudonym "Lewis Carroll" in 1856 when publishing a poem in "The Train." He used the pseudonym when publishing Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and other works, but wrote under his given name, Charles Dodgson, when publishing mathematical works and in daily life.
On mourning stationery, with embossed letterhead: "8, Albert Mansions, / S. W."
This item is part of the Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., Lewis Carroll collection. The large collection includes printed books, letters, manuscripts, puzzles and games, personal effects and ephemera, which have been cataloged separately.
Removed from the "Carrolliana" album (MA 6347) assembled by Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., folio 6.
The letter is addressed to "The Revd. C. L. Dodgson." Charles Lutwidge Dodgson adopted the pseudonym "Lewis Carroll" in 1856 when publishing a poem in "The Train." He used the pseudonym when publishing Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and other works, but wrote under his given name, Charles Dodgson, when publishing mathematical works and in daily life.
Provenance
From the Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., Lewis Carroll collection; gift of Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., 1987.
Summary
Saying that he had written hurriedly (perhaps a reference to a previous letter) and overlooked "the obvious fact that you were the Lewis Carroll who has delighted & charmed old & young alike"; discussing the possibility of a theatrical adaptation of Alice in Wonderland: "I have often thought that 'Alice' might be dramatized, but to my thinking it would have to be done with much aid from scenery & music. It would make a beautiful 'fairy piece'. If you should ever give practical effect to your notion, I shall be very glad indeed to enter into it with you"; explaining that this would probably not include writing a song for the play: "Songwriting is the largest source of my income, and as I keep a royalty on each, I could not afford to write a song, & part with it outright except under conditions which would be thought absurdly extravagant"; offering to help in other ways: "I will glady give you any information in my power to enable you to get a proper return for your words, if they are set to music either by myself or others."
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