Alice In Boardland + Inverted Father William

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Sesquicentennial exhibition brings to life Lewis Carroll's book 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'

On the Fourth of July (1865)
England welcomed
the publication of
what became
the 2nd most
quoted book
ever written
in English*





The  Harry Ransom Center  at The University of Texas at Austin, 
presents the exhibition "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" 
to mark the 150th anniversary of the publication 
of Lewis Carroll's classic work. 

Featuring more than 200 items, the exhibition is drawn 

almost entirely from the Ransom Center's collections 
of art, photography, rare books, performing arts, 
film and manuscripts.

The exhibition ends July 6, 2015. 



More information about the two images
are available by clicking on the two
italic hyperlinks above.

All italic text above is quoted verbatim from Art Daily.
To measure our gratitude for the existence of that website
requires an approximation of a number commonly known as infinity.

But when one is a distinguished graduate of the Lewis Carroll School of Logic,
he cannot help thinking what was going through the mind of the girl who inspired the figurine.

He will be preposterous enough to believe she was thinking about an elderly gentleman
who never experienced anything resembling respiratory problems.

Occasionally, the distinguished graduate of LCSoL requires a translator.
His preposterous belief is, obviously, one of those occasions.

Therefore, allow me to be of service:

We now present a poem from  Alice in Wonderland
accompanied by both the classic John Tenniel illustration
AND Lewis Carroll's illustration.  
 

"You are old, Father William," the young man said,
"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head—
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"

"In my youth," Father William replied to his son,
"I feared it might injure the brain;
But now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again."

"You are old," said the youth, "As I mentioned before,
And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door—
Pray, what is the reason of that?"

"In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
"I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment—one shilling the box—
Allow me to sell you a couple?"

"You are old," said the youth, "And your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak—
Pray, how did you manage to do it?"

"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life."

"You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose—
What made you so awfully clever?"

"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"
Said his father; "don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs!"

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Footnotes
If there is one person who fully understands his preposterous belief,
her name is  Michelle  but it would be best for her to not explain why
until after January 20, 2017.

*
In the history of the written word, the only book written in English
that is "quoted" more frequently than ALICE IN WONDERLAND
is the King James Bible.

But the latter required multiple authorship.

Lewis Carroll, however, is probably quoted less frequently than Shakespeare.

But the time has come, the Paulrus said  to start your search engines.

If, per chance, you may be in Austin, Texas, before July 6...
don't be shy about sending us something from
the Harry Ransom Center gift shop.  
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