signed
1873
by CARROLL, Lewis
Oxford, 1873. Oxford: 1873.
Full Description:
CARROLL, Lewis. Autograph Letter Signed "C L Dodgson." . Ch[rist] Ch[urch] [Oxford]: Mar. 4/[1]873.
Autograph letter, signed "C L Dodgson." Three manuscript pages in his characteristic purple ink on a single folded sheet of octavo mourning stationary. Folded size: 6 1/4 x 4 inches; 159 x 100 mm. Open size: 6 1/4 x 8 inches; 159 x 201 mm. With two light creases from mailing, otherwise near fine. This letter is addressed to Mrs Kitchin, the mother of Alexandra (Xie) Kitchin, one of Carroll's most used models in his photography.
The letter reads:
Ch Ch Mar. 4/73 Dear Mrs Kitchin, Many thanks, but/ I must beg you to ex-/use me tomorrow. My/ work is seldom over/ much before 3, so I/refuse all luncheon/ invitations, & thus offend/no one friend more than/another, or (perhaps I/should say) offend all/alike! I am often/so weary when 3 comes/that I am loath to/inflict my company on/any children. But some/day, when I do feel alive/enough, I shall much /enjoy having them down/here for a short time./I will call, & take my/ chance as to whether/they are available or not,/presuming that I may/carry them off whenever/you have not left orders/to the contrary./If I could obtain/them, and a fine after-/noon, simultaneously,/I should like to try a/photo of the two faces side/by side, for a vignette,/ (which you might call/"Love-Birds" or some such/sentimental name!) As I /got such a good one of /Mrs Feilder's little girl nearly 3 weeks ago, & the /light is getting better/every day. With love to my dear/little friends, I am
Sincerely yours, CL Dodgson
"Dodgson was a close friend of the Kitchin family, and Alexandra (Xie) Kitchin was one of his favorite photographic models. George William Kitchin attended Christ Church, Oxford where he took a Double First in Classics and Mathematics in 1850. In 1854, Kitchin was an examiner in Mathematics at Christ Church. " (Lewis Carroll Society of North America).
"Alexandra "Xie" Rhoda Kitchin (29 September 1864 - 6 April 1925) was a notable 'child-friend' and favourite photographic subject of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll). She was the daughter of Rev. George William Kitchin (1827-1912), who was Dodgson's colleague at Christ Church, Oxford, and later became Dean of Winchester and Dean of Durham, and his wife, Alice Maud Taylor... Xie had three younger brothers: George Herbert, Hugh Bridges, and Brook Taylor, and a younger sister, Dorothy Maud Mary. All were featured in Dodgson's photographs. Dodgson photographed her around fifty times, from age four until just before her sixteenth birthday. The works they made together, often in tableau form, are commonly known to collectors, curators, and the contemporary artists who are inspired by them as the 'Xie' (pronounced 'Ecksy' — a diminutive form of Alexandra) pictures." (Wikipedia)
"Lewis Carroll became interested in photography in the infancy of this scientific art form. He was a man of infinite patience and one who paid attention to the smallest detail. These qualities were mandatory to be a photographer in the 1850's. The wet collodion process was demanding indeed. It is thought that he gave up photography when the dry developing process came to the fore, because he felt it made photography so easy that almost anyone could do it (like the introduction of digital photography in our own time?). He is considered one of the best amateur photographers of his time, particularly in his images of Victorian children, but he also photographed friends, family, fellow scholars, and noted figures of his day, including Alfred Lord Tennyson, and members of the Rossetti family." (Lewis Carroll Society of North America).
HBS 69125.
$5,000. (Inventory #: 69125)
Full Description:
CARROLL, Lewis. Autograph Letter Signed "C L Dodgson." . Ch[rist] Ch[urch] [Oxford]: Mar. 4/[1]873.
Autograph letter, signed "C L Dodgson." Three manuscript pages in his characteristic purple ink on a single folded sheet of octavo mourning stationary. Folded size: 6 1/4 x 4 inches; 159 x 100 mm. Open size: 6 1/4 x 8 inches; 159 x 201 mm. With two light creases from mailing, otherwise near fine. This letter is addressed to Mrs Kitchin, the mother of Alexandra (Xie) Kitchin, one of Carroll's most used models in his photography.
The letter reads:
Ch Ch Mar. 4/73 Dear Mrs Kitchin, Many thanks, but/ I must beg you to ex-/use me tomorrow. My/ work is seldom over/ much before 3, so I/refuse all luncheon/ invitations, & thus offend/no one friend more than/another, or (perhaps I/should say) offend all/alike! I am often/so weary when 3 comes/that I am loath to/inflict my company on/any children. But some/day, when I do feel alive/enough, I shall much /enjoy having them down/here for a short time./I will call, & take my/ chance as to whether/they are available or not,/presuming that I may/carry them off whenever/you have not left orders/to the contrary./If I could obtain/them, and a fine after-/noon, simultaneously,/I should like to try a/photo of the two faces side/by side, for a vignette,/ (which you might call/"Love-Birds" or some such/sentimental name!) As I /got such a good one of /Mrs Feilder's little girl nearly 3 weeks ago, & the /light is getting better/every day. With love to my dear/little friends, I am
Sincerely yours, CL Dodgson
"Dodgson was a close friend of the Kitchin family, and Alexandra (Xie) Kitchin was one of his favorite photographic models. George William Kitchin attended Christ Church, Oxford where he took a Double First in Classics and Mathematics in 1850. In 1854, Kitchin was an examiner in Mathematics at Christ Church. " (Lewis Carroll Society of North America).
"Alexandra "Xie" Rhoda Kitchin (29 September 1864 - 6 April 1925) was a notable 'child-friend' and favourite photographic subject of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll). She was the daughter of Rev. George William Kitchin (1827-1912), who was Dodgson's colleague at Christ Church, Oxford, and later became Dean of Winchester and Dean of Durham, and his wife, Alice Maud Taylor... Xie had three younger brothers: George Herbert, Hugh Bridges, and Brook Taylor, and a younger sister, Dorothy Maud Mary. All were featured in Dodgson's photographs. Dodgson photographed her around fifty times, from age four until just before her sixteenth birthday. The works they made together, often in tableau form, are commonly known to collectors, curators, and the contemporary artists who are inspired by them as the 'Xie' (pronounced 'Ecksy' — a diminutive form of Alexandra) pictures." (Wikipedia)
"Lewis Carroll became interested in photography in the infancy of this scientific art form. He was a man of infinite patience and one who paid attention to the smallest detail. These qualities were mandatory to be a photographer in the 1850's. The wet collodion process was demanding indeed. It is thought that he gave up photography when the dry developing process came to the fore, because he felt it made photography so easy that almost anyone could do it (like the introduction of digital photography in our own time?). He is considered one of the best amateur photographers of his time, particularly in his images of Victorian children, but he also photographed friends, family, fellow scholars, and noted figures of his day, including Alfred Lord Tennyson, and members of the Rossetti family." (Lewis Carroll Society of North America).
HBS 69125.
$5,000. (Inventory #: 69125)