As part of its From the USC Libraries series, the USC Chronicle recently featured "Some Popular Fallacies about Vivisection" and other rare Lewis Carroll works in Special Collections. The article draws attention to Carroll's mathematical and scientific writings, reflecting the breadth of the Alice author's intellectual curiosity. The USC Libraries Wonderland Award deadline is April 1, so students must finish their entries over the next ten days. You can learn more about the contest, which encourages USC students to explore the libraries' G. Edward Cassady, M.D., and Margaret Elizabeth Cassady, R.N., Lewis Carroll Collection by becoming a fan of the contest on Facebook.
Here's Dan Knapp's article from this week's Chronicle:
Travel Beyond the Looking Glass
USC Libraries showcase Lewis Carroll's less-known pursuits.
Often remembered as the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), English poet, logician, and mathematician Lewis Carroll’s intellectual curiosity extended far beyond the realm of the looking glass.
The USC Libraries’ G. Edward Cassady, M.D. and Margaret Elizabeth Cassady, R.N. Lewis Carroll Collection reveals the great breadth of Carroll’s creative and scholarly interests. In addition to many unique editions of Alice and its sequel, Through the Looking Glass, the collection includes mathematical works such as An Elementary Treastise on Determinants, With Their Application to Simultaneous Linear Equations and Algebraical Equations, and a refutation of prevailing 19th-century attitudes toward animal experimentation, "Some Popular Fallacies About Vivisection."
Although Carroll believed animal research was vital to scientific and medical discovery, he also was an advocate for humane treatment. Originally published as a letter in London’s Pall Mall Gazette in February, 1875, Carroll expanded the article and submitted "Popular Fallacies" to the influential magazine Fortnightly Review, where it appeared four months later.
The following year, the English Parliament passed the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1876.
Just 16 pages in length, "Some Popular Fallacies About Vivisection" is one of the rarest Carroll works in the Cassady Lewis Carroll Collection.
Each spring, USC students discover the array of Carroll-related items held in the Cassady Collection as they compete for the USC Libraries Wonderland Award. Now in its sixth year, this multidisciplinary competition encourages new scholarship and creative work related to Lewis Carroll and the entire range of his interests.
Last year’s Wonderland Award grand prize winner was Cinematic Arts doctoral candidate Ghia Godfree. USC faculty are encouraged to remind students that the submission deadline for this year’s competition is April 1, 2010.
For more information on the Cassady Collection, e-mail USC Special Collections at specol@usc.edu. To find out more about the USC Libraries Wonderland Award, contact Tyson Gaskill at 213-740-2070 or gaskill@usc.edu, or visit www.usc.edu/libraries/wonderland.