“Dress of Dreams,” part of the Cassady Lewis Carroll Collection, University of Southern California Doheny Library

“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll, A Beloved Imaginative Writer

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) was a 19th century author who lived in England and published major books with fantastical characters and plots. His books remain popular today and have inspired several live action and animated feature films.

Read more about the author here: https://www.biography.com/writer/lewis-carroll.

Lewis Carroll Collection at USC Doheny Memorial Library

The Cassady Lewis Carroll Collection, which is part of the University of Southern California Doheny Memorial Library (room 209), has 4,000+ literature items related to the work of Lewis Carroll, best known as the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. The Collection is open to the public and includes first editions in several languages, scripts, comic books, graphic novels, and original illustrations. For details, see https://libguides.usc.edu/cassadycollection or call 213.740.5900.

University of Southern California Doheny Library, Los Angeles

An exciting offering of this special collection is the annual “Wonderland Award” to encourage use of the Lewis Carroll Collection. Any college student using any library collection, regardless of where they attend college, is eligible to compete, as long as they describe how they used their library’s collection to create their entry. Submissions may be scholarly essays, poems, performance pieces, video games, animation, visual art, music, film, etc. The prize range is $1,500-$3,000. For information about this competition, visit https://libraries.usc.edu/locations/special-collections/wonderland-awards.

Fans can also find original works of the author at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas and the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia.

USC is the fourth stop on our Southern California Author Adventures Trail. Go to our Louie Zamperini page for information on another USC literary landmark.

Patricia Smart