Lewis Carroll's Private Journal No. 3

The third volume has not been located. (see the Introduction for further information about the disappearance of this volume.)

The volume would have covered the period: October to December 1855. Collingwood quotes an entry for 31 December 1855 (p. 64).

An Account of Dodgson's Life During the Period

Dodgson's activities during the three months, forming the contents of the missing third private journal, are unaccounted for. No letters or papers survive from this period. We only have a brief reference in Stuart D. Collingwood's biography, The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll (T. Fisher Unwin: 1898) which indicates that he was made a Master of the House on October 15, 1855 in honour of the appointment of the new Dean, Henry George Liddell, who succeeded Dean Thomas Gaisford. Collingwood explains that this conferment entitled Dodgson to all the privileges of a Master of Arts within the walls of Christ Church (p.58). Dodgson did not gain his M.A. from the University until 1857. We do know that Dodgson was appointed Mathematical Lecturer by the new Dean (see Diary 1, Dodgson's note dated August 20, 1855 which was appended to his entry for March 24, p.79) to commence during the autumn (Michaelmas) term. This task, alone, must have been time consuming, giving Dodgson little opportunity for other activities as he prepared for his lectureship. The formalities of the role did not begin until January 1856.

During this period, Dodgson was still compiling Mischmasch, the eighth and last of the domestic magazines. Of the twenty-five written entries and numerous illustrations in this repository of Dodgson's early literary writings and publications, some are dated during the three months from October to December 1855. 'Hints for Etiquette: or Dining Out made Easy' appeared in The Comic Times dated October 13, 1855. This parody of good table manners was written in September 1855 (see Diary 1, p.131) and appears in Mischmasch as a cutting from The Comic Times. Dodgson's other contribution to this new and humorous penny rival to Punch during this period was "Photography Extraordinary," also written in September (see Diary 1, p.132) and published in the issue dated November 3, 1855. This, too, was pasted into Mischmasch at a later date. 'The Palace of Humbug' was written at Oxford towards the end of 1855. This humorous poem was refused by The Comic Times, The Train and Punch. Its fate is chronicled in this journal (see January 10 & February 5, 1856) eventually being published in The Oxford Critic in May 1857.

Dodgson was at Croft at the end of September 1855 when the previous journal breaks off. He spent some time earlier that month visiting the Wilcox aunts, uncles and cousins at Whitburn, and during this time it is possible that he wrote 'Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry' which eventually became the first stanza of 'Jabberwocky' in Through the Looking-Glass (1871). There is no specific mention of this poem in the journals, but it appears in Mischmasch, signed and dated "Croft 1855." A few items in Mischmasch are undated and some may have been composed during these three months at the end of 1855.