This is taken from the Illustrated London News, showing a scene from the burlesque to the panto "Dick Whittington" at the Lyceum, one of Carroll's favourite theatres. The image comes from around 1860. If I were going to be fussy I could try and locate the exact date but I have so many copies of Illustrated London News that I'd be searching all day. Perhaps Carroll was in the audience, but since several years of his diary are missing around that time, guess we'll never know. For the book, I've had fun researching some of the plays he saw. Plays and pantos then were very light hearted and not necessarily too respectable - the ladies in this picture are showing extraordinarily large amounts of leg for the time!

Scene from the burlesque at "Dick Whittington"

Tag: steel engravings, pantomime