The Story of Alice in Wonderland told for Young People by the Real Alice in Wonderland, Miss Isa Bowman

The copyright date for the book is 1899.

I had to look up who Isa Bowman was. She was an actress and appeared in stage appearances of Alice in Wonderland in at least two plays, doing one as Alice herself. She was a friend of Lewis Carroll and stayed with him between the ages of 15 and 19.

The book was written after the death of Charles Dodgson/Lewis Carroll. She describes him physically, and notes that he tried to cure his stuttering but was never able to. She also says he was excessively shy. She goes into describing his photographic skills, but how he hated to have anyone take his photograph.

She says he had a large collection of music boxes. She notes that in informal writing his handwriting was rather bad, but when writing something formal (like a manuscript) his writing was very good and legible.

His behavior was hermit-like at many times. She writes of the time she spent with him and their walks and his behavior, including his delight in telling stories. She says he was devoted to the theater. He has some criticisms of her acting and basically seems to be espousing the concept of the actor becoming the character fully.

She includes some writing about Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass and some of his other works.

Her main aim seems to be to present Lewis Carroll/Charles Dodgson as a 'friend to children.'

There's some additional items in the book, but they are not very interesting.


Main Index

Main Alice in Wonderland index page