O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!...

It is one of the most bizarre poems in the English language, yet the nonsensical verse of Lewis Carroll's 'Jabberwocky' has an enduring quality that makes it beloved by adults and children alike. Its latest stint in the public eye, comes in the form of inclusion in Tim Burton's 'Alice In Wonderland' - an extremely free adaptation of Carroll's Victorian novel. In the film, the poem is read by legendary actor Christopher Lee, who has previously lent his voice to poems of a more macabre nature, such as Poe's 'The Raven' and 'The Haunted Place'. Lee recently reprised his role, as he gave a special reading of 'Jabberwocky' in the British Library, which can be viewed here

On this day...

English writer Charles Lutwig Dodgson, better known by pseudonym Lewis Carroll, died in 1898. Perhaps unusually for an author, Carroll was first an extremely proficient mathematician. Having attended Rugby school, he gained an Oxford place, and went on to achieve a first class honours and subsequent professorship. Shortly after, Carroll's work started to appear in national publications. Mostly of a humourous nature, it was printed in magazines ranging from 'The Comic Times' to 'The Oxford Critic'. It was from this that Carroll launched himself fully in art, becoming immersed in numerous forms, from literature itself, to photography and even inventions; an early variety of Scrabble has been attributed to his name. He also mixed with the preminent artistic crowd of the day, becoming friends with critic John Ruskin, and Dante Rossetti, John Everet Millais and William Hunter of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Yet, of course his favourite medium was writing and he contributed significantly to the genres of fantasy and children's literature. As a writer of prose, he will be best remembered for the frequently adapted 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland', yet as a poet, his most famous contribution was the nonsensical work, 'The Jabberwocky'.

Curiouser and curiouser...

A rare edition of Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland' has sold at auction for $115,000 (£70,896). The edition was given to ten-year old Alice Liddell in 1846, as a Christmas present, after she proved the inspiration for the story two years previous. Other lots under the hammer, were another first edition which went for £24,659, and a signed letter by Carroll, which sold for £1,222. The items were being sold by children's book collector Pat McInally, who will use the proceeds to buy more A.A. Milne books at a forthcoming sale in London.

On this day...

Oxford mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson sent a handwritten manuscript of 'Alice's Adventures Under Ground' to Alice Liddell in 1864. Dodgson, better known by pseudonym Lewis Carroll, found inspiration for the work from a boat trip down the Isis river, during which he told a story to entertain three young sisters on board, one of whom was Alice Liddell. His idea proved so popular that Dodgson spent the next two years writing it out by hand; bound in morocco leather and illustrated by his own hand, he gave it to Alice as a Christmas present with the inscription, ‘A Christmas gift to a dear child, in memory of a summer’s day’. At this time Dodgson was already expanding the novel, adding in such episodes as the Cheshire Cat and Mad Hatter, to ready it for publication. Published in 1865, 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' was immediately popular, with Queen Victoria and Oscar Wilde said to be among its readers. The book has now been translated in over 125 languages and has a sequel, 'Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'.