Trivia

It's thought Alice in Wonderland sold so well at the time it was written was because when reality was too grim to deal with, people could escape into fantasy like this.

Wrote the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" from "Alice in Wonderland" as nonsense - it has no answer. This has not stopped people, despite being repeatedly told that there is not, nor should there be, any answer, from trying to contrive one. Among the suggestions are, "Because Edgar Allan Poe wrote on both" and "Because the notes for which they are noted are not noted for being musical notes" (the second of which is very similar to a solution that Carroll himself wearily suggested when he grew tired of people asking him about it).

Coined the words "portmanteau", "jabberwocky", "galumph", "chortal", "unbirthday", "mimsy", "slithy", "snark" and "vorpal".

Was by nature shy and withdrawn.

Appears on sleeve of The Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club" album.

Inventor of the portmanteau.

Dodgson was a mathematics lecturer and author of mathematics books at Oxford University (1855-81) who is better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll.

He invented Nyctograph, a device helpful for writing in the dark, along with a special alphabet for Nyctography.

Created "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" as a diversion for Alice Liddell, the second daughter of Henry Liddell, the Dean of Christ Church.

He had 10 siblings - three brothers, seven sisters (two sisters older than him).

His novel Alice in Wonderland is an influence on author Neil Gaiman, e.g. in Gaiman's novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane, he likens a crescent moon to a grin, like the Cheshire Cat.

2025 marks the 160th anniversary of the publication of Carroll's first "Alice" novel, "Alice's adventures in Wonderland" (1865) To celebrate, many talks, celebration days (most notably Oxford, England on the 4th of July) as well as performances, art, and film will premiere or feature in 2025 to mark this momentous occasion.