Lewis Carroll decided to suppress a scene involving what was described as "a wasp in a wig" (possibly a play on the commonplace expression "bee in the bonnet"). A biography of Carroll, written by Carroll's nephew, Stuart Dodgson Collingwood, suggests that one of the reasons for this suppression was a suggestion from his illustrator, John Tenniel,[11] who wrote in a letter to Carroll dated 1 June 1870:[12]
I am bound to say that the 'wasp' chapter doesn't interest me in the least, and I can't see my way to a picture. If you want to shorten the book, I can't help thinking—with all submission—that there is your opportunity.
For many years, no one had any idea what this missing section was or whether it had survived. In 1974, a document purporting to be the galley proofs of the missing section was auctioned at Sotheby's; the catalogue description, in part, read, "the proofs were bought at the sale of the author's…personal effects…Oxford, 1898". The document would be won by John Fleming, a Manhattan book dealer, for a bid of about US$832 (equivalent to $5,140 in 2023).[13] The contents were subsequently published in Martin Gardner's More Annotated Alice (1990),[14] and are also available as a hardback book.[15]
The rediscovered section describes Alice's encounter with a wasp wearing a yellow wig, and includes a full previously unpublished poem. If included in the book, it would have followed, or been included at the end of, Chapter 8—the chapter featuring the encounter with the White Knight. The discovery is generally accepted as genuine, but the proofs have yet to receive any physical examination to establish age and authenticity.[16]
The missing episode was included in the 1998 TV film adaptation Alice through the Looking Glass, with the character being portrayed by Ian Richardson. It was also included in the 2010 graphic novel "The Complete Alice in Wonderland".
