Contempta fama contemni virtutes : autograph manuscript.

The essay is undated, and no place of writing is given. In his biography of Carroll, Morton Cohen argues, based on the content and the handwriting, that it was probably written by Carroll early in his undergraduate career at Christ Church; essays on moral subjects with prompts from classical sources were a weekly assignment at the college. See Lewis Carroll: A Biography, by Morton N. Cohen (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995), pages 39-41, for an extended discussion of this and two other similar essays from Carroll's undergraduate days at Christ Church, all in the Morgan's collection.
The Latin title is a slight alteration of Tacitus' Annals, IV, 88 ("To despise fame is to despise merit").
Contains autograph corrections.
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 17.
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. For administrative purposes, all manuscripts are collated under the name Lewis Carroll.