How did Henry Kingsley help lead to the publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?

The novelist Henry Kingsley played a pivotal role in the publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by chance. While visiting the deanery where Alice Liddell lived, Kingsley happened to pick up the handwritten manuscript of the story—which Lewis Carroll had gifted to Alice—from a drawing-room table. After reading it, he was so impressed that he urged Mrs. Liddell to persuade Carroll to publish the work.1

This encouragement prompted Carroll to consult his friend George Macdonald, whose own children reacted with great enthusiasm to the story. Following this positive reception, Carroll began revising the manuscript for publication, eventually commissioning John Tenniel to provide the iconic illustrations for the book, which was officially published in 1865.1