On November 26, 1865 Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, under the pen name Lewis Carroll published the novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
From Wikipedia:
[Alice in Wonderland] … tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. Its narrative course and structure, characters and imagery have been enormously influential in both popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre.
Since the invention of the printing press – and becoming increasingly popular since the 19th century – many successful authors would create and publish their own works. These self-published authors would gain more control of their work, earn greater profits, and eschew the practical bondage required by publishers. Publishers have repeatedly attempted to frame these and other self-published authors as using “vanity publishing” in an attempt to shame them. To be clear: most people can’t name a single publisher … but they can name MANY self-published authors. And English classes don’t have assignments to read Random House or Penguin, but they do have assignments on Twain, Tennyson, Kipling, and Thoreau.