The (almost really) Complete Works of Lewis Carroll

Cautions to Readers

Source: added to the advertisements of several books (e. g. in “Eight or Nine Wise Words” and “Sylvie and Bruno Concluded” with different punctuation), in some as “Caution to Readers” only the first paragraph, with variants like “Fräulein Ida Lackowitz, of 14, Lottumstrasse, Berlin” or “Miss Cato Schaap, of 40, West Zeedijk, Rotterdam”; here the variant from The Nursery “Alice”

Other version: To the Editor of the Nineteenth Century

On August 1st, 1881, a story appeared in Aunt Judy’s Magazine No. 184, entitled “The Land of Idleness, by Lewis Carroll.” This story was really written by a lady, Fräulein Ida Lackowitz. Acting on her behalf, Mr. Carroll forwarded it to the Editor: and this led to the mistake of naming him as its author.

In October, 1887, the writer of an article on “Literature for the Little ones,” in The Nineteenth Century, stated that, in 1864, “Tom Hood was delighting the world with such works as From Nowhere to the North Pole. Between Tom Hood and Mr. Lewis Carroll there is more than a suspicion of resemblance in some particulars. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland narrowly escapes challenging a comparison with From Nowhere to the North Pole. The idea of both is so similar that Mr. Carroll can hardly have been surprised if some people have believed he was inspired by Hood.” The date 1864 is a mistake. From Nowhere to the North Pole was first published in 1874.