The letters and early editions of Carroll's works, which go on sale later this month in London, document his friendships with several young children.

But while such relationships would be frowned upon today, Carroll - who has aroused suspicions of pedophilia through his photographs of pre-teen children in mildly erotic poses - was simply bent on his love of the naive, according to curators at Christie's auction house.

"He was a man of strict propriety himself, there isn't any doubt about that," said Christie's book specialist Thomas Venning.