You look sus

Wasp in a Wig is a chapter that was omitted from Through the Looking Glass and it was first mentioned in Stuart Dodgson Collingwood’s biography The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll:

The story, as originally written, contained thirteen chapters, but the published book consisted of twelve only. The omitted chapter introduced a wasp, in the character of a judge or barrister, I suppose, since Mr. Tenniel wrote that “a wasp in a wig is altogether beyond the appliances of art.” Apart from difficulties of illustration, the “wasp” chapter was not considered to be up to the level of the rest of the book, and this was probably the principal reason of its being left out. (Gardner 280)

We also know more of its existence through a letter John Tenniel had sent Dodgson June 1, 1870:

June 1, 1870

My dear Dodgson,

I think that where the jump occurs in the Railway scene you might very well make Alice lay hold of the Goat’s beard as being the object nearest to her hand, instead of the old lady’s hair. The jerk would naturally throw them together.

Don’t think me brutal, but I am bound to say that the “wasp” chapter doesn’t interest me in the least, and 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.

Yours sincerely,

J. Tenniel

 (Cohen and Wakeling 15)

Up until 1974, it was only speculation what this “wasp” could be. Collingwood thought it a judge of sorts (thus, telling us he did not have the original). Many thought the chapter took place after the Railway as that’s what Tenniel talks about before the wasp (however, this does not mean anything in particular. Dodgson had asked Tenniel which parts should be cut from the story as suggested by the previous letter to this [Cohen and Wakeling 14] and may have just been continuing that thread of conversation). Suddenly, this appeared in the sales catalogue of Sotheby’s London auction room:

The Property of a Gentleman. 76. DODGSON (C.L.) “Lewis Carroll”. GALLEY PROOFS FOR A SUPPRESSED PORTION OF “THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS”, slip 64-67 and portions of 63 and 68, with autograph revisions in black ink and note in the author’s purple ink that the extensive passage is to be omitted.

*** The present portion contains an incident in which Alice meets a bad-tempered wasp, incorporating a poem of five stanzas, beginning “When I was young my ringlets waved”. It was to have appeared following “A very few steps brought her to the edge of the brook” on page 183 of the first edition. The proofs were bought at the sale of the author’s furniture, personal effects, and library, Oxford, 1898, and are apparently unrecorded and unpublished. (“Contrariwise: the Blog”)

It was bought for £1700 (the equivalent of $2,631) by John Fleming, a New York book dealer, for Norman Armour Jr. who shared the text, but did not have it authenticated. It was sold again in 2005 by Armour’s daughter and estimated to be around $60-70,000. (“Contrariwise: the Blog”). It takes place after Alice’s episode with the White Knight in Chapter 8 and continues on the sentence: “A few steps brought her to the edge of the brook…” (Gardner 292) You can read the full episode at Lenny’s Alice in Wonderland Site. Since then it was generally been accepted as the missing chapter, being featured in the Annotated Alice, facsimiles being produced, and even adapted into film by the 1998 Alice Through the Looking Glass (above).

However, the author of the Contrariwise article raises doubt if it’s authentic and I’m inclined to agree.

#redinstead happy autism acceptance month! Reminder to listen to autistic voices and our needs.

Some autism acceptance month reminders:

- aspergers is not a diagnosis anymore! (It was created by a nazi) it’s just autism in the DSM now!

- listen to nonverbal, higher support needs autistics, not just autistics you deem “able” (shouldn’t assume it for anyone btw)

- listen to autistic poc, the psychiatry / neuropsych field can be extremely racist and ableist!

The kids want to be so hard 

But in my dreams, we’re still screaming