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Lewis Carroll and his violet ink


Aelfattrum

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From https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/culture/literature-and-creative-writing/literature/what-was-lewis-carroll (which is an excerpt from "The Story of Lewis Carroll" by Isa Bowman, which is freely available at Gutenberg.org: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35990 ), a curious reminiscence about Lewis Carroll and his letters. Here the detail about his ink choice (bolded below) was the item of particular note, but I include the larger passage for its amusing nature:


 

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...."I nearly died of laughing," was another expression that he particularly disliked; in fact any form of exaggeration generally called from him a reproof, though he was sometimes content to make fun. For instance, my sisters and I had sent him "millions of kisses" in a letter. Below you will find the letter that he wrote in return, written in violet ink that he always used (dreadfully ugly, I used to think it).

 

    "CH. Ch. Oxford, "_Ap. 14, 1890_.

    "MY OWN DARLING,

    It's all very well for you and Nellie and Emsie to write in millions of hugs and kisses, but please consider the time it would occupy your poor old very busy Uncle!

    Try hugging and kissing Emsie for a minute by the watch, and I don't think you'll manage it more than 20 times a minute.

    'Millions' must mean 2 millions at least.

    20)2,000,000 hugs and kisses
    60)100,000 minutes
    12)1,666 hours
    6)138 days (at twelve hours a day)
    23 weeks.

    I couldn't go on hugging and kissing more than 12 hours a day: and I wouldn't like to spend Sundays that way. So you see it would take 23 weeks of hard work. Really, my dear child, I cannot spare the time .

    Why haven't I written since my last letter? Why, how _could_ I, you silly silly child? How could I have written  since the last time  I  did  write? Now, you just try it with kissing. Go and kiss Nellie, from me, several times, and take care to manage it so as to have kissed her since the last time you _did_ kiss her. Now go back to your place, and I'll question you. 

    'Have you kissed her several times?'

    'Yes, darling Uncle.'

    'What o'clock was it when you gave her the last kiss?'

    '5 minutes past 10, Uncle.'

    'Very well, now, have you kissed her since?'

    'Well--I--ahem! ahem! ahem! (excuse me, Uncle, I've got a bad cough). I--think--that--I--that is, you, know, I----'

    'Yes, I see! "Isa" begins with "I," and it seems to me as if she was going to end  with "I,"  this  time!'

    Anyhow, my not writing hasn't been because I was _ill_, but because I was a horrid lazy old thing, who kept putting it off from day to day, till at last I said to myself, 'WHO ROAR! There's no time to write now, because they sail on the 1st of April.' In fact, I shouldn't have been a bit surprised if this letter had been from Fulham, instead of Louisville. Well, I suppose you will be there by about the middle of May. But mind you don't write to me from there! Please, please, no more horrid letters from you! I do hate them so! And as for kissing them when I get them, why, I'd just as soon kiss--kiss--kiss you, you tiresome thing! So there now!

    Thank you very much for those 2 photographs--I liked them--hum--pretty well. I can't honestly say I thought them the very best I had ever seen.

    Please give my kindest regards to your mother, and 1/2 of a kiss to Nellie, and 1/200 a kiss to Emsie, and 1/2,000,000 a kiss to yourself. So, with fondest love, I am, my darling, your loving Uncle,

    C. L. DODGSON."

 

 

 

I didn't find a scan of this particular letter, but I did find another letter of his written in "the dreadfully ugly violet ink":

 

https://www.lib.umd.edu/binaries/content/gallery/exhibits/alice150/featured/lewiscarrollmarmaladeletter.png

 

[from https://www.lib.umd.edu/alice150/beyond-the-books/featured-item-of-the-month/marmalade-letter ]

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It occurs to me that the 1890's were sometimes referred to as "the mauve decade." Perhaps he was just keeping up with the times -- or slightly ahead of them. 

 

I have written letters in Krishna Orchid, which a slightly darker purple than the above appears, and using an EF nib which further muted the color. Interesting that the author of the book thought the color was ugly when she was a girl, but it seems a curious choice of descriptor. I think it instead rather too pretty, but all right for a casual note like that. 

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This is cool, thanks for sharing! 

Just give me the Parker 51s and nobody needs to get hurt.

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I think violet inks were probably popular in the late 19th century generally. Methyl violet seems to have been available from the 1860s, and I think was relatively cheap (maybe economics and the whimsical touch combined appealed to Carroll? If indeed his violet ink was one of these formulations.). French schoolchildren apparently used violet ink by prescription for a long time (see, e.g. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/216774-discontinued-herbin-ink/  )

 

 

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