Lewis Carroll

Introduction & Top Questions
Early life
Oxford and the Liddells
Origins and publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
The riddle of Lewis Carroll

Quotes References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Lewis Carroll, also known as Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, standing at a table in formal 19th-century attire, with one hand resting on papers, at age 25.

Hear Jill Gage explore the interest in the first edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and the enduring adventures of Alice

At a Glance

Lewis Carroll summary

Quizzes

Book Jacket of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by American children's author illustrator Eric Carle (born 1929)

Classic Children’s Books Quiz

Illustration of "The Lamb" from "Songs of Innocence" by William Blake, 1879. poem; poetry

A Study of Poetry

4:043 Dickinson, Emily: A Life of Letters, This is my letter to the world/That never wrote to me; I'll tell you how the Sun Rose/A Ribbon at a time; Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul

Famous Poets and Poetic Form

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) only confirmed photograph of Emily Dickinson. 1978 scan of a Daguerreotype. ca. 1847; in the Amherst College Archives. American poet. See Notes:

Poetry: First Lines

Books. Lord Alfred Tennyson. Lord Byron. Poetry. Reading. Literacy. Library. Antique. A stack of four antique leather bound books.

Poets and Poetry of Great Britain Quiz

Related Questions

Did Lewis Carroll intend Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to be an allegory?
How did Charles Lutwidge Dodgson create the pen name Lewis Carroll?
How did Henry Kingsley help lead to the publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?
How did an illness affect Charles Dodgson’s hearing?
How does Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland end?
How does chess shape Alice’s adventures in Through the Looking-Glass?
How many siblings did Charles Lutwidge Dodgson have?
How was Alice Liddell connected to Lewis Carroll’s Alice stories?
What academic honors did Charles Dodgson earn at Oxford?
What is The Hunting of the Snark about?
What job did Charles Dodgson hold at Christ Church, Oxford?
What was Lewis Carroll’s real name?
When and where did Lewis Carroll die?
When was Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland first published?
When was Charles Dodgson ordained as a deacon in the Church of England?
When was Lewis Carroll born?
When was Through the Looking-Glass published?
Where did Lewis Carroll tell the original Alice story to the Liddell children?
Where was Lewis Carroll born?
Which famous people did Lewis Carroll photograph?
Which mathematical book by Charles Dodgson has historical interest?
Which subjects did Charles Dodgson excel in at Christ Church, Oxford?
Which well-known poems did Lewis Carroll parody in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?
Who accompanied Lewis Carroll and the Liddell children on the 1862 boat trip?
Who illustrated the first published edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?
Who were Lewis Carroll’s parents?
Who were Lorina and Edith Liddell?
Why did Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass become so popular?
Why did Lewis Carroll give up photography in 1880?
Why did Lewis Carroll write out Alice’s Adventures Underground for Alice Liddell?
Why did some early critics fail to appreciate Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?
Why was the first edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland withdrawn?
When and where was Lewis Carroll born?
What did Lewis Carroll study in college?
What are Lewis Carroll’s most famous works?
What inspired Lewis Carroll to write Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?
Why did Anne Brontë use a male pseudonym?
How many books did Emily Brontë write?
Did Emily Brontë marry?
What was Emily Brontë famous for?
What were Emily Brontë’s siblings’ names?
What was Emily Brontë’s childhood like?

Literature Novels & Short Stories Novelists A-K

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External Websites

The Victorian Web - Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)
PBS - Antiques Roadshow - Understanding Concerns About Lewis Carroll
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction - Biography of Lewis Carroll
Official Site of The Lewis Carroll Society
Poets.org - Biography of Lewis Carroll
LiveScience - 5 Odd Facts About Lewis Carroll
American Society of Authors and Writers - Lewis Carroll
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Lewis Carroll
Poetry Foundation - Lewis Carroll

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

Lewis Carroll - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
Lewis Carroll - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Lewis Carroll

British author

Also known as: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson

Written by

Roger Lancelyn Green

Author of The Story of Lewis Carroll and others; editor of The Diaries of Lewis Carroll.

Roger Lancelyn Green

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 7, 2026 •History

Lewis Carroll (born January 27, 1832, Daresbury, Cheshire, England—died January 14, 1898, Guildford, Surrey) was an English logician, mathematician, photographer, and novelist, especially remembered for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass (1871). His poem The Hunting of the Snark (1876) is nonsense literature of the highest order. Dodgson was the eldest son and third child in a family of seven girls and four boys born to Frances Jane Lutwidge, the...

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