‘They dined on mince and slices of quince,
which they ate with a runcible spoon‘
The Owl and the Pussycat, Edward Lear, 1871
To hazard a guess at the exact nature of a runcible spoon, you’d have to consult Edward Lear’s 1849 illustration of the Dolomphious duck (pictured) on the point of devouring its dinner. A ladle. Or a spork? Named after a Runcie or a Runcy? Robert Runcie polished silverware as butler for Lear’s patron the Earl of Derby, while Lear’s friend, George Runcy, polished up children’s manners by concocting up cutlery designs. But what about a runcible cat? Or Lear’s description of himself as a spherical form topped by a runcible hat?
The inverted logic of nonsense verse abandons words to mere sounds and inky squiggles. Lewis Carroll first wanted to publish The Jabberwocky – side-by-side John Tenniel’s drawings – as Alice first read it: inverted print which could only be read in reflection.
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