The man who became famous as Lewis Carroll was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson in 1832. Dodgson, the third of 11 siblings, grew up in northern England surrounded by his brothers and sisters. Together they put on plays and created family publications like The Rectory Magazine, named for their home in Croft-on-Tees. Dodgson’s father was an Archdeacon in the Church of England and lived in a rectory, or a residence for the parish clergyman.
This edition of The Rectory Magazine includes essays, poems, and short stories, as well as hand-drawn and colored illustrations. The sense of humor and parody that appear in much of Carroll’s later work is already evident in The Rectory Magazine, produced when Dodgson was 18 years old.
Visitors to the Ransom Center’s exhibition Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, on view through July 6, can turn the pages of a digital version of The Rectory Magazine on a touchscreen in the galleries.
Please click on the below thumbnails to view larger images.
![Title page of Charles Dodgson's [Lewis Carroll], The Rectory Magazine, produced by Dodgson and his siblings in 1850.](https://sites.utexas.edu/ransomcentermagazine/files/2015/02/3_300dpi.jpg)
![Illustrations from Charles Dodgson's [Lewis Carroll], The Rectory Magazine, produced by Dodgson and his siblings in 1850.](https://sites.utexas.edu/ransomcentermagazine/files/2015/02/26_300dpi.jpg)
![Illustrations from Charles Dodgson's [Lewis Carroll], The Rectory Magazine, produced by Dodgson and his siblings in 1850.](https://sites.utexas.edu/ransomcentermagazine/files/2015/02/38_300dpi.jpg)
![Illustrations from Charles Dodgson's [Lewis Carroll], The Rectory Magazine, produced by Dodgson and his siblings in 1850.](https://sites.utexas.edu/ransomcentermagazine/files/2015/02/74_300dpi.jpg)