Carroll enjoyed collecting the most difficult Russian words.

Lewis Carroll's close friend and colleague Henry Liddon proposed "that we should go together to Russia" on July 4, 1867, and Carroll gladly agreed. Because both men were strong supporters of reuniting the Eastern and Western Churches, which was a hot topic at the time, their trip was officially sanctioned.

Liddon and Carroll stayed in Moscow for two weeks, sightseeing and visiting numerous churches and cloisters. Carroll enjoyed collecting the most difficult Russian words to pronounce and transcribing them into English during the tour. "Zashtsheeshtschayjushtsheekhsya" - a shortened form of a word for people who defend themselves - was one of his favorites.

Lewis Carroll had an undeniable influence on Russian literary culture. In Russia, Alice in Wonderland (1865) was first published in 1879 under the title Sonya in a Kingdom of Wonders. Surprisingly, neither the translator's nor the illustrator's names appeared on the title page, and the translator's identity is still unknown. There are now over 30 Russian editions of the book, including versions by Anton Chekhov's brother Mikhail Chekhov and the well-known children's writer and translator Samuil Marshak.

Anya in Wonderland, Nabokov's version, was first published in Berlin in 1923 and is one of the most popular translations. His intention was for Russian readers to enjoy the work in translation just as much as they did the original. As a result, he retold the story in Russian, including references to great Russian poets in the book's verse elements.