Edward Lear

The Owl & the Pussy-Cat, and the Duck & the Kangaroo (Illustrated Edition) (Dodo Press) Edward Lear Illustrated edition

Edward Lear (1812-1888) was an English artist, illustrator and writer known for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose, and especially his limericks, a form which he popularised. He was born in Highgate, a suburb of London, the 20th child of his parents and was raised by his eldest sister, Ann, twenty-one years his senior. He started work as a serious illustrator and his first publication, at the age of 19, was Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae; or, Parrots in 1830. His paintings were well received and he was favourably compared with Audubon. Throughout his life he continued to paint seriously. He had a lifelong ambition to illustrate Tennyson's poems. Lear briefly gave drawing lessons to Queen Victoria. In 1846 Lear published A Book of Nonsense, a volume of limericks which went through three editions and helped popularise the form. Edward Lear's nonsense works are distinguished by a facility of verbal invention and a poet's delight in the sounds of words, both real and imaginary.