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Mary Liddell cdv, back and front

Would any Lewis Carroll experts out there care to give me their opinion on the possibility of this being his work? The date of 1871 fits, the handwriting is similar to that in the facsimile version of Alice's Adventures Underground and of course the surname Liddell made me wonder if this was a relation of Alice Liddell. One of her sisters was called Edith Mary, but I think she would have been older than this little girl by 1871. The contrast in this image is less good than in most of Dodgson's photos that I have seen, so I suspect it probably isn't, but wouldn't it be nice to have found an unknown photograph?

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Comment by Jonathan Ross on August 15, 2014 at 18:47: Thanks for enquiring, Roger. I wasn't really very hopeful. I will have to look out for Edward's book. Perhaps its publication will be announced here? 171 other Mary Liddells is too daunting to research...

Since we last met I have continued to collect stereoviews by G.W.Wilson and must have almost 1000 by now. Absurd really!

All the best,

Jonathan

Comment by Roger Taylor on August 15, 2014 at 18:18: Jonathon,

As a precaution I referred your enquiry to my Carrollian friend and colleague Edward Wakeling, who knows more about CLD than anyone else and is currently preparing a catalogue raisonne of all known prints. It would have been wonderful if your portrait had turned out to be previously unknown, but sadly, Edward reports that "I can find no Mary Liddell connected to Alice Liddell and her family. The hand-writing is not by Dodgson."

The 1871 census reveals there are 171 entries for Mary Liddell, the vast majority falling within the right age range of your subject.

Sorry to disappoint.

All best.......Roger