Alice in Wonderland creator Lewis Carroll's never-before-seen photos he took of a girl between ages of four and 16 are found in house clearance
- Bizarre set of eight photos show the girl asleep on the sofa and dressed in outfits
- The unearthed prints were found by Xie's great grandchildren during a clear out
- Comes after Carroll was branded 'repressed paedophile' in a BBC documentary
A set of never-before-seen images taken by Alice in Wonderland creator Lewis Carroll have been uncovered in a safe during a house clearance.
The bizarre set of pictures show Alexandra 'Xie' Rhoda Kitchen, the daughter of one of Carroll's colleagues, between the ages of four and 16.
Eight sets of prints, taken in the late 1860s and 1870s, show the girl asleep on a sofa, with a bucket and spade, and dressed in various outfits.
The prints are valued each at £1,000 and have been put up for auction by Sworders in Essex.
This comes after the celebrated children's author was branded a 'repressed paedophile' in a 2015 BBC documentary, which uncovered naked photographs - taken by the writer - of the real-life sister of the girl who inspired Alice in Wonderland.
Following this, the BBC investigated whether Carroll could be considered as a 'Victorian Jimmy Savile'.
This photograph shows show Xie asleep on a sofa. Carroll reportedly photographed the girl around fifty times
This photo shows Alexandra 'Xie' Rhoda Kitchen wearing a crown. The children's author took photos of the girl from the ages of four until just before her sixteenth birthday
The never-before-seen images taken by Lewis Carroll have been uncovered in a safe during a house clearance
Carroll, real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who died in January 1898, was a keen photographer.
Xie was a notable friend of the famous writer, and is claimed to have been one of his favourite photographic 'child sitters'.
She was the daughter of the Revd George William Kitchen, one of Carroll's colleagues at Christ Church College, Oxford.
She went on to marry Arthur Cardew in 1890, who was a civil servant and gifted amateur musician. Together, they had six children.
Xie is buried in Putney, but unlike Carroll's other acquaintances, Isa Bowman and Alice Liddell - who was the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland - she never wrote about her memories of the author.
Carroll reportedly photographed Xie around 50 times, from the ages of four until just before her 16th birthday.
The works they made together show the girl asleep on a sofa, with a bucket and spade, or dressed in various outfits.
One image, which would be seen as very politically incorrect today, shows her presented as a 'Chinaman'.
The images come after it was revealed in The Secret World of Lewis Carroll, a BBC documentary in 2015, that Carroll befriended Alice Liddell and her two sisters as they were children.
The documentary for the 150th anniversary of the publication of the much-loved children's book explored the controversy surrounding Carroll’s friendship with children and his obsession with photography.
And researchers working on the documentary discovered some disturbing images.
The new unearthed prints have been consigned by Xie's great grandchildren who found them in a brown envelope during a clear out of a family home in Essex
Xie is buried in Putney, but unlike Carroll's other acquaintances, she never wrote about her memories of the author
The photographs are now going under the hammer at auctioneers Sworders, of Stansted Mountfitchet, in Essex
Xie Kitchin in Tea merchant by Lewis Carroll on 14 July 1873. The set of eight prints taken in the late 1860s and 1870s are each valued to fetch around £1,000 at auction
They found some of the pictures of Alice's elder sister, Lorina, which featured her naked in a full-frontal pose.
They are images that 'no parent would ever have consented to', according to the show's presenter Martha Kearney.
Following this, the BBC programme investigated whether Carroll could be considered as a 'Victorian Jimmy Savile'.
Alice's great-grand daughter Vanessa Tait told the programme back then: 'He was a strange man but an admirable one, and I don't want to tar him with accusations of paedophilia which we're all so obsessed with now.'
The new unearthed prints have been consigned by Xie's great grandchildren who found them in a brown envelope during a clear out of a family home in Essex.
And they are now going under the hammer at auctioneers Sworders, of Stansted Mountfitchet, in Essex.
Speaking about the photographs, a Sworders spokesperson said: 'The prints come for sale from the Revd George Kitchen's great grandchildren.
'Their late mother Elizabeth Kitchen had sold around 10 similar photographs in the late 1980s but these new discoveries were found in a brown envelope at the back of a safe while the family home in Essex was being cleared.
'At the time, the camera was still a relatively new technology, and Dodgson as an early and capable enthusiast.
'He found no shortage of friends who wanted him to make likenesses of their children.'
Luke Macdonald, director at Sworders, added: 'It is remarkable that this wonderful collection of original albumen prints of Xie Kitchin, taken by Charles Dodgson, have remained with the Kitchin family since the 1870s, a truly wonderful find in a brown envelope at the back of a safe in a local farmhouse.'
Carroll wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865 and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass in 1871.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has sold 100 million copies.
The book has also been adapted into TV shows and films, most notably the 2010 movie 'Alice in Wonderland' which starred Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter.
The auction sale for the eight prints ends on Sunday, 23 April.
