KNIGHT LETTER D De E the Lewis Carroll Society of North America

d de e KNIGHT LETTER d de e The Lewis Carroll Society of North America

d de e Spring 2018 Volume III Issue 1 Number 100 d de e

The Knight Letter is the official magazine of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America, a literary society whose purpose is to encourage study and appreciation of the life, work, times, and influence of Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), and is in affiliation with the Fales Library, New York University. It is published twice a year and is distributed free to all members. Editorial correspondence should be sent to the Editor in Chief at [email protected]. submissions Submissions for The Rectory Umbrella and Mischmasch should be sent to [email protected]. Submissions and suggestions for Serendipidity and Sic, Sic, Sic should be sent to [email protected]. Submissions and suggestions for All Must Have Prizes should be sent to [email protected]. Submissions and suggestions for From Our Far-Flung Correspondents should be sent to [email protected]. © 2018 The Lewis Carroll Society of North America ISSN 0193-886X Chris Morgan, Editor in Chief Cindy Watter, Editor, Of Books and Things James Welsch, Editor, From Our Far-Flung Correspondents Foxxe Editorial Services, Copyeditor Mark Burstein, Production Editor Sarah Adams-Kiddy, Proofreader Andrew H. Ogus, Designer the lewis carroll society of north america President: Stephanie Lovett, [email protected] Vice-President: Linda Cassady, [email protected] Secretary: Sandra Lee Parker, [email protected] www.LewisCarroll.org Annual membership dues are U.S. $35 (regular), $50 (international), and $100 (sustaining). Subscriptions, correspondence, and inquiries should be addressed to: Sandra Lee Parker, LCSNA Secretary PO Box 197 Annandale, Virginia 22003

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elcome to the hundredth issue of the created after the Alice books were published? Why are Knight Letter! To mark this special event, some reversed and some not? Why do some have ad- Wwe offer this one-time oversized color is- ditional images on them? Matt sheds new light on the sue as a gift to our members. We wish we could do this topic through his recent research. for every issue, but we hope you’ll enjoy the offerings Also in this issue, Goetz Kluge makes the case herein, including an affectionate retrospective by Mark that a seventeenth-century engraving may have influ- Burstein, an active participant in the KL for decades, enced Henry Holiday’s last illustration for The Hunt- and some thoughts from Stephanie Lovett. They look ing of the Snark. Goetz’s excellent blog about all things back at its beginnings as a small newsletter, and de- Snark is at http://snrk.de/. scribe its growth and evolution to the present day. Earlier this year, we lost David Schaefer, a beloved It’s a major accomplishment for any periodical to friend to the Society for over four decades. In this is- last for 100 issues. The KL began in 1974, just before sue’s “In Memoriam,” August Imholtz, Jr., offers a I became an editor at BYTE, an early personal-com- very personal look back at David’s remarkable life, his puting magazine. At the time, we were delighted to accomplishments in technology, and his many contri- make it to issue #10, let alone #100! All credit for the butions to the LCSNA. KL’s longevity goes to the countless LCSNA members chris morgan who have volunteered their talents over the years to maintain our quality and relevance. In this issue, we offer a colorful mushroom theme with several intriguing caterpillars to admire. P h Our spring meeting report offers a rich set of presen- o to b y tations about all things Carrollian, including Linda E l l i e Gray-Moin’s remarkable life-sized recreation of Mr. S c h Dodgson’s hearthside in his rooms at Christ Church, a e

complete with reproductions of the tiles on the S

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hearth and the paintings displayed across his mantle. n s “Once I Was a Real Turtle,” by Matt Demakos, is a revealing analysis of John Tenniel’s post-publication drawings and tracings of his illustrations for the Alice books. The images, held at Harvard University (the Harcourt Amory Collection), the Morgan Library, New York University (the Berol Collection), and several other collections, are intriguing. Why were they David and Maxine Schaefer preciated by all, even those driving Wonderland & Alice in Spiegelland, a Peliano, discussing twenty years of by in their cars. Dutch version of both Alice books. her work. The couple came to Sebastopol She discussed the choices she The other publication, written from Montreal about twenty years made for her illustrations and the by Henri Ruizenaar, contains six ago. His sculptures come in two va- techniques she used. In Rieder’s Dutch and two African translations rieties: ceramic figures and “junk illustrations, Alice is a contempo- of Jabberwocky. To come is a trans- art” (made from found objects: car rary, entrepreneurial girl with a lation of the dialogue between parts, watches, paint brushes, glass hoodie, sneakers, backpack, and Alice and Humpty Dumpty about jars, whatever). All are one-of-a- eyeglasses. Rieder’s goal is to cre- the famous first stanza. Also, Jur kind, and all are hand-painted by ate illustrations attractive both to Koksma and Joep Stapel have Brigitte. He has made many dif- girls and boys. composed a new Dutch translation ferent versions of the various Alice Fedde Bedictus was the second of Jabberwocky especially for this characters in his “junk art” style, speaker. He is a friend of the So- edition. They wrote an accompa- some of which are on display in his ciety and author of the blog “The nying essay about their “struggle house and on his lawn. All of his Tricycle down the Rabbit-hole” with the Jabberwock” and the pieces are cartoony, amusing, even (feddebenedictus.com). His pre- variety of solutions created by the laugh-provoking, but they evoke a sentation, “Alles in Wonderland,” different translators for the Jab- certain sweetness as well. was about whether our Dutch lan- berwocky puzzle. The publication As we speak, he is in negotia- guage is adequate to describe real- is designed by Iris Cousijnsen. tions to buy an old carousel made ity. Referring to Carroll’s article For more information or to order by the Herschell Spillman Com- What the Tortoise Said to Achilles and these publications, visit www.lewis pany in the 1920s, thirty feet in examples from Alice’s Adventures carrollgenootschap.nl (see p.64). diameter, to populate with Alice in Wonderland, he explained what characters! Should this come to Gödel, Escher, and Zen have in g pass, watch these pages. Mean- common. It was food for thought, burning the baker while, do visit his work at patrick and a topic that will certainly be Goetz Kluge amiot.com or throughout the wine revisited. I interpret Lewis Carroll and country if you happen to be in Between these talks, a short Henry Holiday’s epic The Hunting Northern California. version of Jan Švankmajer’s film of the Snark as a ballad about how Alice (N co z Alenky) was shown. ĕ man’s pursuit of happiness ends The Society then discussed its g tragically when the struggle for the achievements and plans, and dutch society’s right path to the truth turns from presented two new publications. second symposium legitimate dispute (Snark) into A new journal, dodo/nododo, tijd- The Dutch Lewis Carroll Society zealous fanaticism (Boojum). Too schrift in de geest van Lewis Carroll, (“Lewis Carroll Genootschap”) was often, in the end, some seekers of is a significant indicator of the established in The Netherlands happiness even get burned. revival of the Dutch Lewis Carroll in 1976, but during the past thirty That happened to Thomas Society. It has a new name and a years it has remained dormant Cranmer, a leader of the English new design. The journal aims to with no activities. That changed Reformation and Archbishop of promote Lewis Carroll and Alice on January 12, 2018, when the Canterbury during the reigns of and contains not only studies of Society reconvened to hold a new Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary Lewis Carroll’s life and work, but symposium at the Koninklijke I. He was put on trial for treason also original publications that Bibliotheek (National Library of and heresy and imprisoned for perpetuate his spirit—contribu- the Netherlands) in The Hague. more than two years. Under pres- tions with an original style and Thirty-five friends of the Society sure from Church authorities, he a special attention to language, attended. made several recantations, but he puzzles, fantasy, and nonsense. Jur The program began with an had to leave his 42 Protestant ar- Koksma and Joep Stapel are the interesting tour in the National Li- ticles behind when, in the end, he editors, and the designer is Mich- brary with, of course, special atten- was burned at the stake in 1556 by iel Terpelle. Two of the contribu- tion given to Alice in Wonderland. “Blood Mary,” who was Catholic. tions are in English: a logic essay The first speaker was Floor Rieder, The Baker, the hero in The on the reductio ad absurdum in the a well-known Dutch illustrator who Hunting of the Snark, left 42 boxes Alice books by the Dutch Society’s has received many awards, and is behind him, with his name paint- chair, Bas Savenije, and an inter- popular in other countries, too, ed clearly on each. A baker is ex- view with Brazilian artist Adriana especially Germany. In 2014 she posed to heat. He answered to illustrated De avonturen van Alice in “Fry me!” or “Fritter my wig!” Inti-

55 Figure 1. Henry Holiday’s illustration to the final chapter ofThe Figure 2. Detail from Faith’s Victorie Hunting of the Snark with the highlighted section rotated. mate friends called him “Candle- songs on the Wonderland record ages can be seen at tagankateatr. ends” and his enemies “Toasted- was a rare exception, since his ru/Begi--Alisa--Begi. cheese.” poems were banned from publica- Didenko’s musical starts In his poem, Carroll gives us tion. But, sung by the author, they when the March Hare (played a very broad hint: This Baker got could be heard on magnetic tapes by Vysotsky’s son, Dmitry) an- burned. We can see the final burn- throughout Russia. His popularity nounces: “All rise! Court is in ses- ing in Henry Holiday’s illustration was extraordinary across all social sion!” and the viewers reluctantly to the last “fit” of the Snark poem groups. rise. A stage poster says “Forward (Figure 1). In the circled area, a At the same time, in the to the Dark Past!” In this gloomy part of the Boojum seems to have Taganka Theatre in Moscow, and pensive version, complete seized the Baker’s wrist. Vysotsky, under the famous direc- with giant animal characters Compare that to Figure 2, show- tor Yuri Lyubimov (1917–2014), and psychedelic dancing, Alice ing the stake and the fire burning played the most fondly remem- is played by a team of three—a Thomas Cranmer (at right) and bered Russian Hamlet. In Febru- small girl, another girl a bit older, several other Protestant martyrs, ary 2018, to celebrate Vysotsky’s and an adolescent. There is also a detail from the seventeenth- 80th birthday, a new musical a fourth, zombie-like, character century engraving Faith’s Victorie in premiered in the Taganka, featur- billed as “Alice of the Night,” who Rome’s Crueltie by Thomas Jenner ing the poet’s lyrics from the 1976 accompanies the evil Queen of (1631–1656). In both figures you record. The show is titled Begi, Worms (Irina Aleximova) (chervi, see a hand in a fire. To me, this Alisa, Begi (Run, Alice, Run). It was “worms” in Russian, is a homo- is the sad end of the hero of The directed by Maxim Didenko, with phone of the Hearts card suit). Hunting of the Snark. a new, original playscript by Valery A lot has changed since Vysotsky Pecheykin, an impressive stage set wrote the lyrics, but the Knave-of- g by Maria Tregubova, and music by Hearts-style kangaroo courts go on run, alice, run Ivan Kushnir. A selection of im- in Russia, as those lyrics from the Victor Fet 1976 record remind us: “The role of the masses is easy enough: just Several generations of children go down on your knees, what is in Russia grew up listening to the the problem? Your King is respon- 1976 LP record of Wonderland—an sible for everything—or a Queen.” engaging audio musical loosely Today, in Russia, trials of the- based on Nina Demurova’s transla- ater directors go on. Didenko’s tion of Alice’s Adventures (1967). friend Kirill Serebrennikov, who This version featured original staged an absurdist opera of The songs by Vladimir Vysotsky (1938– Hunting of the Snark in 2012, is now 1980), a stage and film actor, poet, under house arrest for alleged and balladeer who was possibly the embezzlement. The charge is be- most important cultural figure of lieved to be politically motivated. that time. The availability of his 56 Incidentally, in parallel to my little note in the Knight Letter № 100 on the Baker’s “hot” names and on Henry Holiday’s pictorial reference to Thomas Cranmer’s burning, a paper suggesting textual references from The Hunting of the Snark to Thomas Cranmer’s Forty-Two Article s has been published in The Carrollian (July 2018, № 31, p.25~41), a journal of the Lewis Carroll Society in the UK. The author, Karen Gardiner, is an Anglican priest. So she and I (as well as Angus MacIntyre in 1994) all were lead by Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark and the Baker’s forty-two boxes to Thomas Cranmer – coming from different starting points and different backgrounds. Goetz Kluge 2018-08-19