BIB_ID
413121
Accession number
MA 6397.4
Creator
Carroll, Lewis, 1832-1898.
Display Date
Guildford, 1881 January 16.
Credit line
Gift of Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., 1987.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 17.6 x 11.5 cm
Notes
Written on mourning stationery in purple ink.
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.
The letter is signed 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. For administrative purposes, all manuscripts are collated under the name Lewis Carroll.
Previously accessioned as AAH 477.
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.
The letter is signed 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. For administrative purposes, all manuscripts are collated under the name Lewis Carroll.
Previously accessioned as AAH 477.
Provenance
From the Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., Lewis Carroll collection; gift of Arthur A. Houghton, Jr., 1987.
Summary
Asking if she will sign a copy of 'The Cup" for Agnes Hull, the young girl he is bringing with him to see the play; saying "For I am sure you like giving pleasure, and in this case you would raise the child into the seventh heaven of delight, if there is such a thing as a book of the words of 'The Cup', and if you would write her name in a copy ('To Agnes from Camma' or any other inscription you like) and send it round to us (in Stalls 42,43). To a child's imagination, the actress of a beautiful part (such as I feel sure Camma must be) is a fairy-like and unapproachable being, and to have such a gift from you at such a moment would make it a memorable night for the rest of her life! But I shall not give her any hint that I have suggested this, so there will be no disappointment if it doesn't come. How can you expect me to give my opinion on 'The Cup' if you won't give yours? And on the ground that I 'know' so much! I don't feel as if I knew anything - worth speaking of - about acting. But to pretend that you know nothing about it is on a par with my saying (for instance), 'Don't ask me anything about Euclid' when I have been teaching it for 20 years! However, I'll give you the opinion of an amateur outsider, as you pay me the compliment of asking for it;" hoping that the cards he sent to E.[die] & E.ddie] arrived undamaged and were not duplicates; asking, in a postscript, if she would send a copy of 'The Corsicans' if there is not a book of 'The Cup'.
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