Odd Facts About Lewis Carroll

Alice fell down the famous rabbit hole 150 years ago, after family friend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (better known by his pen name, Lewis Carroll) told the story to the Liddell sisters on a boat trip down the Thames on July 4, 1862.

Ten-year-old Alice Liddell, delighted by the tale, asked him for a written copy of the story. The rest is history. Carroll published the adventures in 1865, and the book hasn't gone out of print since.

Here are five odd facts about Lewis Carroll (1832-1898), including his enthusiasm for word games, microscopes and photography.

1. Animal inspiration

"Alice in Wonderland" is chock-full of animals, including the Cheshire cat, flamingos that serve as croquet mallets and a baby that turns into a pig. Many of the animals were anthropomorphized versions of people that Alice and her sisters knew, said Carolyn Vega, assistant curator of literary and historical manuscripts at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City.

In one Wonderland scene, Alice runs a race in circles with a dodo and a flock of other birds and animals. The dodo is supposed to be Carroll, whom everyone knew as Mr. Dodgson. He had a stammer, and sometimes haltingly introduced himself as "Dodo-Dodgson," said Vega, who researched the book for the Morgan Library & Museum's exhibit, "Alice: 150 Years of Wonderland," which runs until Oct. 11.

Carroll frequently visited the Oxford Museum of Natural History, and likely noticed a dodo skeleton and painting on display at the museum, Vega said. Scholars speculate that this dodo inspired him when he was writing and illustrating the book.  

Alice's sisters, Lorina and Edith, are also in the race scene as a lorry and an eaglet. Robinson Duckworth, who accompanied Carroll and the girls on the boat trip, is included in the story as his namesake — a duck.

2. Microscope maven

Lewis Carroll's Microscope.

Credit: Copyright The Morgan Library & Museum Photography by Graham S. Haber, 2015

Just like modern early technology adopters, Carroll bought the latest microscope of his day. The microscope, manufactured in 1859 by Smith & Beck of London, was "something that he had for his whole life and took incredible care of," Vega told Live Science.

Carroll used the microscope to look at amoebas, other protozoa and insect larvae, according to the Morgan's exhibit. In a letter to his sister Elizabeth, he wrote, "This is a most interesting sight, as the creatures are most conveniently transparent, and you see all kinds of organs jumping about like a complicated piece of machinery … Everything goes on at railway speed, so I suppose they must be some of those insects that only live a day or two, and try to make the most of it."

Making a connection to the railway wasn't surprising for a Victorian.

"This is during the exact boon of the railway expansion across Britain," Vega said. Just as people compare concepts today to computers, people in the mid-1800s compared ideas to railroads, which was cutting-edge technology at the time, she said.

3. Word and logic games

Wonderland may be an absurd place, but it's surprisingly logical at times. Perhaps that's because Carroll, who taught mathematics for 26 years at Christ Church at the University of Oxford, infused logic into his writing and games.

In "Syzygies," a game Carroll created, players change letters in one word to make another. For example, walrus; peruse; harper; carpenter.