The Lewis Carroll Society Website - Lewis Carroll's Diaries

The final volume of Dodgson’s diary, his thirteenth journal notebook, covers the period from July 1892 to December 1897. These five and a half years were spent in retirement but Dodgson was still very active in the creative sense; the principal activity being his study of logic and his intention to publish a three volume treatise incorporating his logical discoveries covering the elementary, advanced, and transcendental aspects of his investigations. Sadly, only the elementary part was published in his lifetime.

Among the significant events in Dodgson’s life described in this journal are the many lectures in logic he gave to various groups of people. These included girls at the Oxford High School, young ladies at St. Hugh’s Hall, Oxford, children at some Eastbourne schools (although story-telling and puzzles were also included), and a series of public lectures at Guildford. Dodgson spent much time developing his logical ideas, theories, and methods, trying them out on fellow logicians, not always with success as shown by his dispute with John Cook Wilson, professor of logic at Oxford.

Dodgson took time to indulge his passion – the theatre. He regularly took the train to London, often with a companion, to see the latest productions, and he visited the theatre many times during his summers at Eastbourne.

Another passion was for long walks, sometimes of fifteen or twenty miles – a time to think and reflect, to devise puzzles, to consolidate ideas, and to compose poems. If he undertook a walk alone, he would invariably time himself and calculate his average speed, and compare this with previous results for the same walk. He often noted the condition of his feet after a long walk, with varying outcomes. There can be no doubt that he walked at a brisk rate. However, in the company of an adult walking-partner or child, the pace would be more leisurely.

Dodgson began the habit of inviting a guest for dinner, either at Christ Church or Eastbourne, and this was often an unescorted young lady, thus defying the conventions of his day. A tête-à-tête evening meal was his preferred arrangement. He often refused opportunities to entertain two guests at the same dinner. With increasing frequency, meals at Christ Church were eaten in his rooms, food being brought over from the Kitchen for the purpose, thus giving him more time for writing projects.

His contribution to the life of the University was preaching at the University church of St. Mary’s, Oxford. These were daunting occasions, but he saw them as a privilege to address the young undergraduates on serious religious matters. He also preached at a number of children’s services at Eastbourne and St. Leonard’s, but instead of a sermon, he would tell a story with a moral. Unfortunately, many of these stories and sermons were unscripted and details do not survive.

His interest in games and puzzles was unabated. He invented “Co-operative Backgammon” – a variation on the conventional game using three dice instead of two. On the literary side he remained very productive. During this time he published: Curiosissima Curatoria (August 1892 – given to members of the Common Room), Syzygies and Lanrick (1893), Curiosa Mathematica, Part II, Pillow-Problems (1893), Sylvie and Bruno Concluded (1893), A Disputed Point in Logic (1894), A Logical Paradox (1894), What the Tortoise Said to Achilles (1894), Symbolic Logic, Part I, Elementary (1896), Resident Women-Students (1896), and an introduction to E. G. Wilcox’s The Lost Plum-Cake (1897). In addition, he printed a number of logic papers to assist his lectures. He was working on a collection of serious poems (mainly reprints) with fairy illustrations by E. Gertrude Thomson entitled Three Sunsets, and Other Poems, but this was published posthumously in February 1898.

Dodgson recorded the death of three Christ Church colleagues and friends: Charles Abel Heurtley, professor of divinity and sub-dean of Christ Church, Edwin Palmer, archdeacon of Christ Church, and Richard St. John Tyrwhitt, former student and tutor at Christ Church. He also noted the death of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate, in October 1892; he had long been an admirer of Tennyson’s work.

Updated: 13 November 2005