George MacDonald (the pen-name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson); it was MacDonald's advice, and the enthusiastic reception of "Alice" by MacDonald's many sons and daughters, that convinced Carroll to submit "Alice" for publication. Carroll, one of the finest Victorian photographers, also created photographic portraits of several of the MacDonald children. MacDonald was also friends with John Ruskin, and served as a go-between in Ruskin's long courtship with Rose La Touche. While in America he was befriended by Longfellow and Walt Whitman. As hinted above, MacDonald's use of fantasy as a literary medium for exploring the human condition greatly influenced a generation of notable
Skeffington Lutwidge The expedition sailed up to and around Spitsbergen, managing to reach within ten degrees of the North Pole, but was prevented from travelling further north by thick sea ice, and returned to Britain in September. Sailing with the "Carcass" was a young Horatio Nelson, whose position as a midshipman on the expedition had been arranged by his uncle, Maurice Suckling. Suckling and Lutwidge knew each other well, Lutwidge having served under Suckling on a number of occasions, including time spent acting against privateers in 1771. Nelson was given the role of coxswain of Lutwidge's gig. Nelson managed to obtain command