Complete Alice in Wonderland - L. Carroll [160]
December, 1871: Macmillan & Co. publishes Carroll’s Alice sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (dated 1872).
December, 1871: Positive reviews appear throughout England for Through the Looking-Glass, and again drive Christmas sales.
December, 1871 to January 27, 1872: In the first seven weeks of publication, Through the Looking-Glass sells 15,000 copies.
July, 1874: Carroll has a stroll which results in his composing the ending (and first created) verse of his future work, The Hunting of the Snark.
Summer, 1874: Carroll writes The Hunting of the Snark.
November 23, 1874: By this time, Carroll has Henry Holiday completing illustrations for The Hunting of the Snark.
November 7, 1875: Carroll writes a letter to Mrs. Chataway, explaining the relation of The Hunting of the Snark to the island of the Jabberwock.
Christmas, 1875: Carroll publishes The Hunting of the Snark.
February to April, 1876: Macmillan publishes Carroll’s epic nonsense poem, The Hunting of the Snark.
April, 1876: The Hunting of the Snark causes confusion and much speculation, and receives mixed reviews.
1878: The forty-fifth thousand of Through the Looking-Glass is published.
1879: The last edition of Through the Looking-Glass to be published in Carroll’s lifetime is released, reflecting his final revisions.
August 18, 1884: Carroll writes a letter explaining some of the meaning (or lack thereof!) in The Hunting of the Snark.
March 1, 1885: Carroll writes to Alice Hargreaves, requesting her permission to borrow, review and publish the manuscript of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground.
March 29, 1885: Carroll mentions in his diary that John Tenniel is busy coloring his own illustrations, for use in the future Nursery “Alice”. (Due to some text released by Macmillan, it is more likely that another person performs the coloration, overseen by Tenniel.)
December, 1886: Carroll writes the preface for Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, and the book is published (December 22).
December 23, 1886: The stage version of Henry Savile Clarke’s “Dream Play,” “Alice in Wonderland,” premieres at the Prince of Wales Theatre.
Christmas, 1886: Carroll writes the Preface to the Seventy-Ninth Thousand of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. (In other words, the book by this time has sold 79,000 copies)
Early 1887: Henry Savile Clarke’s play version of “Alice in Wonderland” is published (dated 1886).
April, 1887: Carroll publishes his article “‘Alice’ on the Stage,” which includes a number of insights into the stories and their creation.
1887: Carroll writes a letter explaining the initial idea for The Hunting of the Snark.
December 28, 1888: Carroll begins revising Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to create The Nursery “Alice.”
February 20, 1889: Carroll completes the manuscript of The Nursery “Alice” and sends it on to Macmillan for consideration.
1889: Printing difficulties delay the release of The Nursery “Alice” in England. (Those copies which Carroll deems inferior are sent to America for sale. Other copies are likely donated to children’s hospitals.)
Easter, 1890: Carroll writes the preface to The Nursery “Alice,” and the book is published by Macmillan.
December 29, 1893: A Boojum is briefly mentioned in Carroll’s oft-forgotten book, Sylvie and Bruno Concluded.
Christmas, 1896: Carroll writes the Preface to the Eighty-Sixth Thousand of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
January 14, 1898: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, Lewis Carroll, dies of pneumonia.
April 3, 1928: The original manuscript of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground is sold in a Sotheby’s auction for the unheard-of sum of ₤15,400.
1932: At the age of 80, Alice publishes her “memoirs” by way of her son, Caryl Hargreaves.
November 15, 1934: Alice Pleasance Liddell dies.
1960: Martin Gardner publishes The Annotated Alice, a landmark in the field of Alice and Carrollian studies.
July, 1974: A Sotheby’s auction results in the sale of several galley proofs of Through the Looking-Glass, which include the long-lost Wasp in a Wig chapter.
1977: The Wasp in a Wig chapter