Lear, Edward (1812–1888)

English humorist Edward Lear began to earn his living, at the age of 15 years, as an illustrator. His career was established by 1832, when his book of drawings of parrots was published, and it was then that he began to write the nonsense verses which were to become so famous.

English artist and humorist. His Book of Nonsense (1846) popularized the limerick (a five-line humorous verse). His Nonsense Songs, Botany and Alphabets (1871), includes two of his best-known poems, ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ and ‘The Jumblies’.

He first attracted attention with his paintings of birds, and later turned to landscapes. He travelled to Italy, Greece, Egypt, and India, publishing books on his travels with his own illustrations, and spent most of his later life in Italy.

Born in Holloway, London, of Danish descent, Lear was the 20th of 21 children and was brought up by an elder sister. His father was declared bankrupt when he was four, he had only five years of schooling, and he was both epileptic and asthmatic.

He made ornithological drawings from 1832–36 as a draughtsman for the zoologist John Gould, and later exhibited at the Royal Academy. He gave drawing lessons to Queen Victoria in 1846.

His Book of Nonsense was produced for the grandchildren of his patron, the Earl of Derby. It was this book in particular which gained him fame. His other works include Journal of a Landscape Painter in Albania (1851), Journal of a Landscape Painter in Southern Calabria (1852), Journal of a Landscape Painter in Corsica (1870), More Nonsense Rhymes (1872), and Laughable Lyrics (1877).