Rabbit holes...and warped minds...
Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) was a mathematical
genius...as well as a man with some really
warped authorship...well, warped by mid-19th century standards. Perhaps his only equal was
George MacDonald, the author of Phantastes,
who was likely a literary influencer of Dodgson. In fact, the original manuscript for Alice was given to MacDonald's children
to read and he was extremely interested in what they (and presumably their
father) thought of the story.
I personally think the book has been made into something it is
not over the past 150 years since its publication. Is there some sort of hidden mathematical
code in the text? Maybe, Dodgson was a
pioneer of mathematical theory, and if it's there, it's probably an
insider "curiosity". Do the characters
and the story represent some sort of political commentary or social critique? It's possible, the hatter is mad because he
plunges his bare hands into vats of mercury, perhaps a nod to the
conditions endured by England's working poor in the Victorian age. More than likely, the book "is what it
is"...a whimsical story for children...nothing more, nothing less...with perhaps
some migraine fueled delusions thrown in for good measure.
Finding a first edition facsimile of this work online is not
going to happen. It is an
extremely rare book. The true first edition was interrupted in its
printing run over quality issues. There
are only a handful still in existence. However, the handwritten and
illustrated manuscript Alice's Adventures
Under Ground, written by Dodgson in 1864, is freely
available. There is some controversy as
to whether this manuscript is the original, or a "cleaned up" second
copy. Either way, it's still the earliest version of the story in existence and is in Lewis Carroll's own hand, along with his illustrations...doesn’t get any better than that.
Here's the original manuscript: