Public index · Literature
Rule Forty-two
42
Recorded
Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the King’s rule
“Rule Forty-two. All persons more than a mile high to leave the court.”
Interpretive art · not evidence
A nostalgic painting of the trial, not Tenniel’s woodcut and not a photograph of 1865. Lewis Carroll wrote Rule Forty-two decades before Adams. Reception is not recurrence.
What it supports
An authored 42 in 1865 English literature, decades before Adams. Carroll also packed the Snark with forty-two boxes.
What it does not
Does not prove Adams copied Carroll. Adams said he sat at a desk and thought 42 will do.
ExactnessAuthored use
Form42
Unitrule
Strengthhard
When1865