12:20pm Tuesday 15th December 2009
A POEM signed by Daresbury’s Lewis Carroll has been sold for £12,801 to a mystery bidder at a New York auction.
The rare first edition presentation copy of The Hunting Of The Snark, which Carroll – real name Charles Dodgson – penned in 1876, was given to his sister Elizabeth Dodgson, who was also born in Daresbury.
He wrote: “Elizabeth L. Dodgson, with best love, from her affte (sic) brother, the author, Mar 29, 1876.”
The treasured book was auctioned by Christie’s at Rockefeller Plaza in New York on Friday.
The book is a nonsense poem telling the ‘impossible voyage of an improbable crew to find an inconceivable creature’.
Edward Wakeling, a leading authority on the life and work of Lewis Carroll, said the poem was published on March 29, 1876, the date which appears in the book. Mr Wakeling said: “This copy, in a special blue binding, was for presentation only. Prices are normally around £4,000 to £5,000 for such books.”
On March 29, 1876 – the date in Elizabeth’s copy – Carroll went to London to write in 80 presentation copies.
Christie’s had estimated that the signed copy would sell for up to £18,000.
Villagers in Daresbury have a lasting memorial to Carroll and his work.
Stained glass windows bearing images from his most famous work, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, can be found at All Saints Church, Daresbury Lane.
Carroll’s father was the vicar of the church when the future world-famous writer was born at the parsonage on Morphany Lane, in 1832.
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