The "Alice" stories were written for the young daughter of the Liddell family with whom Charles Dodgson was friends in the mid 1850s.
Having told the story and been begged by Alice Liddell to write it down, Dodgson eventually presented her with a handwritten, hand illustrated copy of the manuscript entitled Alice's Adventures Under Ground in November 1864.
The work was later published as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865 under the pen name Lewis Carroll which Dodgson had begun using some years before. The illustrations this time were by Sir John Tenniel as Dodgson thought that a published book would need the skills of a professional artist.
There are several interesting speculations about the relationship between author and muse, and the later split between Dodgson and the Liddell family. You can learn more about the intriguing story from the many online resources.
The original book ends with a poem titled A Boat Beneath Sunny Skies. The first letter of each line of the poem spells out Alice Pleasance Liddell.
A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky
by Lewis Carroll
A boat beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July —
Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear —
Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.
Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.
Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream —
Lingering in the golden gleam —
Life, what is it but a dream?
