The Hunting of the Snark published by Macmillan in the United Kingdom in late March 1876, with illustrations by Henry Holiday. It had mixed reviews from reviewers who found it strange. The first printing of "The Hunting of the Snark" consisted of 10,000 copies. There were two reprintings by the conclusion of the year; in total, the poem was reprinted 17 times between 1876 and 1908. Carroll often denied knowing the meaning behind the poem; however, in an 1896 reply to one letter, he agreed with one interpretation of the poem as an allegory for the search for happiness. Scholars have found various meanings in
Lewis Carroll of which one has survived: "La Guida di Bragia". In 1856, he published his first piece of work under the name that would make him famous. A romantic poem called "Solitude" appeared in "The Train" under the authorship of "Lewis Carroll". This pseudonym was a play on his real name: "Lewis" was the anglicised form of "Ludovicus", which was the Latin for "Lutwidge", and "Carroll" an Irish surname similar to the Latin name "Carolus", from which comes the name "Charles". The transition went as follows: "Charles Lutwidge" translated into Latin as "Carolus Ludovicus". This was then translated back into English