Isa Bowman
Encyclopedia
Isa Bowman was an actress
, a close friend of Lewis Carroll
and author of a memoir about his life, The Story of Lewis Carroll, Told for Young People by the Real Alice in Wonderland.
She met Carroll in 1886 when she played a small part in the stage version of Alice in Wonderland
: she played the part of Alice in the 1888 revival. She visited and stayed with him between the ages of fifteen and nineteen: Carroll described a visit in July 1888 in Isa's Visit to Oxford, which she reprinted in her memoir. Carroll introduced her to Ellen Terry
, who gave her elocution lessons. Carroll dedicated his last novel Sylvie and Bruno
to her in 1889: her name appears in a double acrostic
poem in the introduction.
She married the journalist George Reginald Bacchus
(1873–1945) in 1899. In 1899-1900 Bacchus published a fictionalised version of her life in Society, a magazine he was editing. The publisher Leonard Smithers
then commissioned a pornographic version which was published as The Confessions of Nemesis Hunt (issued in three volumes 1902, 1903, 1906).
Isa Bowman was the daughter of Charles Andrew Bowman (b.1851), a music teacher, and Helen Herd, née Holmes. Her sisters, Empsie, Nellie and Maggie Bowman were all actresses, and also friends of Carroll. She played a small part in the 1949 British film Vote for Huggett
, together with her sisters Empsie and Nellie.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
, a close friend of Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
and author of a memoir about his life, The Story of Lewis Carroll, Told for Young People by the Real Alice in Wonderland.
She met Carroll in 1886 when she played a small part in the stage version of Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (musical)
Alice in Wonderland is a musical pantomime by Henry Saville Clark and Walter Slaughter and Aubrey Hopwood , based, with Lewis Carroll's permission, on his books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass...
: she played the part of Alice in the 1888 revival. She visited and stayed with him between the ages of fifteen and nineteen: Carroll described a visit in July 1888 in Isa's Visit to Oxford, which she reprinted in her memoir. Carroll introduced her to Ellen Terry
Ellen Terry
Dame Ellen Terry, GBE was an English stage actress who became the leading Shakespearean actress in Britain. Among the members of her famous family is her great nephew, John Gielgud....
, who gave her elocution lessons. Carroll dedicated his last novel Sylvie and Bruno
Sylvie and Bruno
Sylvie and Bruno, first published in 1889, and its 1893 second volume Sylvie and Bruno Concluded form the last novel by Lewis Carroll published during his lifetime. Both volumes were illustrated by Harry Furniss....
to her in 1889: her name appears in a double acrostic
Acrostic
An acrostic is a poem or other form of writing in which the first letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out a word or a message. As a form of constrained writing, an acrostic can be used as a mnemonic device to aid memory retrieval. A famous...
poem in the introduction.
She married the journalist George Reginald Bacchus
George Reginald Bacchus
George Reginald Bacchus was an English author. He was the author of a number of erotic books published by the Erotika Biblion Society....
(1873–1945) in 1899. In 1899-1900 Bacchus published a fictionalised version of her life in Society, a magazine he was editing. The publisher Leonard Smithers
Leonard Smithers
Leonard Smithers was a London publisher associated with the Decadent movement. Born in Sheffield, he worked as a solicitor, qualifying in 1884, and became friendly with the explorer and orientalist Sir Richard Francis Burton. He published Burton's translation of the Book of One Thousand and One...
then commissioned a pornographic version which was published as The Confessions of Nemesis Hunt (issued in three volumes 1902, 1903, 1906).
Isa Bowman was the daughter of Charles Andrew Bowman (b.1851), a music teacher, and Helen Herd, née Holmes. Her sisters, Empsie, Nellie and Maggie Bowman were all actresses, and also friends of Carroll. She played a small part in the 1949 British film Vote for Huggett
Vote for Huggett
Vote for Huggett is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison and Diana Dors. Warner reprises his role as the head of a London family, in the post-war years. It was the second in the Huggetts Trilogy, after 1948's Here Come the Huggetts. In it,...
, together with her sisters Empsie and Nellie.
In popular culture
- Gyles BrandrethGyles BrandrethGyles Daubeney Brandreth is a British writer, broadcaster and former Conservative Member of Parliament and junior minister.-Early life:...
's play Wonderland about the relationship between Isa Bowman and Dodgson was performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010.