Byron W. Sewell

Collectors and sellers of early-American Editions of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass are occasionally frustrated in trying to decide what version of the book they have and the date of publication. The author has solved much of the ambiguity surrounding these editions and hence the title Much of a Muchness (a Shakespearian quote by the Dormouse at the Mad Tea Party). Byron W. Sewell documented his findings in a bibliography privately published in 1992 in an edition severely limited to 17 copies for fellow Lewis Carroll collectors. Though some mysteries still remain, this bibliography is the best source currently available for the period 1866 - 1960. It is here reprinted for the first time in a facsimile edition. Unlike the first edition, which lacked illustrations, this facsimile is graced by scans of the covers of numerous pre-1930 American editions from the glorious collection of the eminent Carroll collector, Alan Tannenbaum.

"Snarkmaster" is a unique, gripping tale of a power struggle between good and evil, concluding with the development of an unusual intermediate state. Most of the story takes place prior to the traditional Snark voyage (described in verse in Lewis Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark"), but becomes inextricably linked with it-unless it isn't... The literary structure of "Snarkmaster" reveals some influence of Carroll's "Sylvie and Bruno" tales, as the characters (including the great Charles Dodgson himself) experience dream states and the appearance of at least one fairy. The comprehensive glossary and painstakingly hand-detailed maps of each of the islands in the archipelago may not be essential to follow the story, but they certainly enhance it. The meticulously hand-inked illustrations emphasize some of the important aspects of the story and provide a tropical ambiance for the text. While not necessarily a prerequisite, knowledge of Carroll's original poem is likely to make "Snarkmaster" more enjoyable for most readers. In the novella "Atchafalya Boojum", four teenagers and two alligator hunters encounter a terrifying Boojum deep in the Atchafalaya Swamp near Morgan City, Louisiana. "Murder by Boojum" is the tale of a brutal serial killer stalks members of the Southern California branch of The American Lewis Carroll Society, targeting members of a mysterious and highly secretive Snark Club within the Society that meets once a year in San Diego's fabled Hotel del Coronado to celebrate and appreciate Carroll's epic nonsense poem, "The Hunting of the Snark". After the first few murders, the killer, who intentionally leaves Snarkian clues, is tagged by the media as "The Boojum", since the monster's victims, collectors of rare editions of Carroll's classic nonsense work, figuratively "vanish" when the killer strikes. Who is the Boojum? What is the Boojum's motive? Will all ten hapless members of this strange group die before the police can stop this Snarkian reign of terror? Is it even safe for anyone in the Society to own more than one copy of Carroll's darkest work?

The two short stories in this collection by Byron Sewell were inspired by Lewis Carroll's disparaged and oft-maligned Sylvie & Bruno fairy tale. "He Thought He Saw", postulates the surprising inspiration for one of Carroll's most famous nonsense poems, "The Mad Gardener's Song", the reason why Carroll took up photography, and why he never married Gertrude Thomson who was in love with him. The second story was inspired by Carroll's innovative structure of the various realms of reality in Sylvie & Bruno. The setting is near Guildford in the Surrey countryside in the 1870's and later in West Virginia in modern times. Flint Bodkins purchases a mysterious and unsigned poem obviously written in Carroll's hand. Two local Carrollians caution him that the poem is actually a spell used in order to enter the spirit realm. Bodkin ignores their warning and passes through an Ivory Door which separates the natural and spiritual worlds. Bodkin encounters a small fairy, her gigantic elfin brother, and two terrifying Jabberwocks. The first story was suggested by August A. Imholtz, Jr. He has provided a short, scholarly preface for both works.

A dark fantasy about the seedy characters that sometimes take book collecting too far. Lewis Carroll fans may recognize some of the characters that have been members of the Lewis Carroll Societies.

One of the many things that partially explain the undying fascination with Charles Dodgson (a.k.a., Lewis Carroll) are the numerous mysteries that swirl around him and fuel speculation and theories. Many of these are probably unsolvable, though Edward Wakeling has managed it for several of them over the years, at least to the satisfaction of many Carrollians. The author is equally fascinated with these mysteries and in this, his own fairytale, offers a theory that solves them all. The primary question he asks is: "Why did Lewis Carroll believe in fairies?" Using this key he offers answers to other mysteries, including: "Who really wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass? Why are the two Alice books so different? Why did he really choose the pen name of Lewis Carroll? Why is "The Walrus and The Carpenter" thrown into the middle of a chess game? Why did he waste the final years of his life writing the Sylvie and Bruno books? What were Dodgson's deathbed confessions / revelations to his sisters, who never revealed what he told them? Why did someone destroy and/or damage some of the volumes of his Diaries? Read on, dear reader, and open your mind to one possibility that is perhaps no less believable than many others... OK, perhaps impossible to believe before breakfast. It might take you until lunchtime.

Fish O'Fiesh, a West Virginian collector of Lewis Carroll, is woken by the barking of his two mastiffs. Stumbling out of bed in his West Virginia mansion he finds his house engulfed in flames, the fire set by an arsonist. He has only time to get the dogs out safely and grab his prized book, "The Skinny Alice", and wait for the firetrucks, which are too late to save anything, including his multi-million dollar collection of Alician foreign language translations and curiosa. After making a list of people who might want him dead (a total of no less than twenty-eight) he sets out to find who on the list might have hired the arsonist to kill him and destroy his collection. His search starts with identifying the now dead arsonist and in the process falls in love with Clare, the arsonist wife, and their young daughter. Clare provides one critical clue which Fish uses to track down a rival Carroll collector, a Houstonian millionaire named Mister Meester, who is furious with Fish because he bought a rare first edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland out from under him. Taking a clue from the deep ocean anglerfish, he dangles an irresistible lure that Meester swallows, and Fish takes his revenge. However, Fish believes that there were probably other people on the list involved in his attempted murder and in searching for them he enters the expensive world of rare comic books.

"Fish" O'Fiesh, an insanely wealthy book collector of foreign translations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Alice-related "curiosa" (a quaint euphemism for erotica) resides in Charleston, West Virginia with his rescue Mastiff dog, Zeus. Having learned of a rare and beautifully illustrated edition of a Portuguese translation he sets off on a quest to see if he can track down a copy or the original art. His quest takes him through Acapulco, Mexico City and Buenos Aries where he eventually comes across an edition that he refers to as a "Skinny Alice" and meets an interesting cast of characters, including booksellers. This is the first volume in a trinity of Fish's adventures in collecting Carroll. The reader should note that this story is not appropriate for children, but does not include any pornography.

On a very cold 1950's Christmas morning in Tucumcari, New Mexico (also known as "The Land of Enchantment"), eight year old Alice Christian wakes to discover that Santa has brought her a copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. After a heavy breakfast that makes her drowsy while reading Lewis Carroll's classic tale, she notices that it is inexplicably summer. Looking outside she spots a large rabbit under a lilac bush and decides to chase after it. In hot pursuit, she chases the rabbit, which pops into an underground tornado shelter whose heavy storm door has been left open. When the wind slams the door shut she is trapped in a New Mexican wonderland. This begins another adventure underground where Alice meets strange and funny characters, including a female bruja with a pet magical cat, a fisherman named Charlie, a goat named Billy the Kid, a gigantic Horny Toad, an equally large Jackalope, and a Texas Croquet Tour group intent on playing atop Tucumcari Mountain. You will likely find yourself laughing out loud as this fanciful parody of Alice's adventures comes to a hysterical and frantic end. There is also a short ghost story, "An 1870 Looking-Glass Visitation", set in Massachusetts, co-authored by Byron and his wife, Victoria.