Letters reveal Carroll’s missing character

THE weird and wonderful creatures in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass have captivated millions of children, but it has now emerged that one waspish character did not make the final books.

A letter put up for auction earlier this week in Britain shows author Lewis Carroll penned a whole chapter of Through the Looking Glass detailing a meeting between Alice and a grumpy “wasp in wig”.

Celebrated illustrator John Tenniel, who constructed the pictures which accompanied Carroll’s words, wrote to the author to tell him: “Don’t think me brutal, but I am bound to say the ‘Wasp’ chapter doesn’t interest me in the least. I can’t see my way to a picture. If you want to shorten the book, I can’t help thinking — with all submission — that there is your opportunity. In an agony of haste. Yours sincerely, Tenniel.”