In 1850 Dodgson entered Christ Church College in Oxford, where he excelled academically, despite not always being the most faithful of students. He received first-class honors in Mathematics at the College, and continued teaching and studying the subject until 1855, when he won the Christ Church Mathematical Lectureship, a post he then held for the next 26 years. It was during this period that he began to be published nationally (having been writing poetry and satires, often humorous in nature, since young adulthood), in magazines like The Comic Times<\/i> and The Train<\/i>. It was during this period (1856, to be exact) that Dodgson first published a poem under the pseudonym \u201cLewis Carroll\u201d – a work entitled \u201cSolitude\u201d published in the magazine mentioned above – The Train<\/i>.<\/p>\n The Liddell sisters – Alice, Lorina & Edith.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n In the same year as the publication of \u201cSolitude\u201d, a new Dean arrived at Christ Church – Dean Henry Liddell. The Liddell family would feature heavily in Dodgson\u2019s life for years to come, as he became an important influence and friend to the Liddell daughters – Lorina, Edith, and Alice. He would often take the Liddell children on short day-trips around Oxford – rowing or going for walks – and it was on one of these trips that he first began the story that would eventually turn into one of the most beloved children\u2019s books of all time – Alice in Wonderland<\/i>. His story of a precocious and questioning young girl was a story told to Alice Liddell, who in turn begged Dodgson to put it to paper for her. His personally illustrated manuscript entitled \u201cAlice\u2019s Adventures Under Ground\u201d was completed in 1863. After Dodgson\u2019s longtime friend (and fellow author) George MacDonald got ahold of the story, it was his persistence that led to its publication in 1865, with new illustrations by Sir John Tenniel. The book was an instant commercial success – with \u201cLewis Carroll\u201d receiving attention from around the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n![\"lewis\"](\"http:\/\/blog.tavbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/lewis.jpg\")
<\/a>Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (pen name Lewis Carroll<\/b> – for those readers that are having one of those really slow days) was the fourth child of what would be a family of 12 (just children, that is). He and quite a few of his siblings would suffer from an unfortunate stammer for their lives, a condition often thought to be brought on when a naturally left-handed child is forced to become right-handed early in childhood (though there is no specific evidence that shows this to blame for Dodgson in particular). This stammer would cause the author no end of misery as he felt inferior throughout life and led to his later relationships with children (sparking great work and no end of controversy to this very day). A (somewhat vague) problematic time in Dodgson\u2019s upbringing would arrive when the 13-year-old Dodgson was sent to Rugby School – an independent boarding school in Warwickshire. Years after leaving the school, Dodgson would write, \u201cI cannot say … that any earthly considerations would induce me to go through my three years again … I can honestly say that if I could have been … secure from annoyance at night, the hardships of the daily life would have been comparative trifles to bear.\u201d Though never expanded on, one can assume that Dodgson was either teased mercilessly or suffered even worse hardships at the hands of his fellow students.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>