
Edward Lear
A Life
Peter Levi(Author)
Barbara Ward & Associates (Publisher)
Published on 3. October 2013
Book
Paperback/Softback
400 pages
978-1-78076-569-3 (ISBN)
Description
"Children swarmed to him like settlers. He became a land." W.H. Auden Edward Lear - beloved nonsense poet, author of such adored poems as The Owl and the Pussycat, inventor of otherworldly characters like Quangle Wangles and of the modern limerick; lauded artist and illustrator - was a genius who defies classification. Gregarious and popular, Lear had a wide circle of friends, but was often lonely and subject to frequent bouts of depression and debilitating epilepsy, the shame of which he struggled with all his life. In this captivating biography, fellow poet Peter Levi renders descriptions of Lear's sketches and watercolours (of which he painted some 10,000 in the course of his career) and provides incisive portraits of his classic poems, such as 'The Jumblies', 'The Owl and the Pussycat' and 'The Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo', setting them in the wider context of traditional nursery rhymes.
Lear belonged to the great tradition of adventurous British travellers, undertaking extensive journeys in Italy and Greece, in Albania, Turkey, Egypt, Palestine and India and these always-eventful journeys are related here, alongside extracts and quotations from his letters and diaries - an essential biography for all lovers of this remarkable British literary figure and now recognised as one of the greatest nineteenth-century landscape painters.
Lear belonged to the great tradition of adventurous British travellers, undertaking extensive journeys in Italy and Greece, in Albania, Turkey, Egypt, Palestine and India and these always-eventful journeys are related here, alongside extracts and quotations from his letters and diaries - an essential biography for all lovers of this remarkable British literary figure and now recognised as one of the greatest nineteenth-century landscape painters.
Reviews / Votes
"Unashamedly personal in its approach, [this biography] grew out of a 'lifelong pleasure' in all aspects of Lear's work, and it is Levi's sheer enthusiasm for his subject that is his book's principal strength." Peter Parker, New York TimesMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Illustrations
2 X 8pp bw plates
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Weight
402 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78076-569-3 (9781780765693)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2013
1st Edition
Tauris Parke Paperbacks
€14.99
Available for download
Persons
Peter Levi, FSA, FRSL, (1931-2000) was a poet, archaeologist, Jesuit priest, travel writer, scholar, biographer and critic. Professor of Poetry at Oxford from 1984-89, Levi also worked for the Times, travelled with Bruce Chatwin in Afghanistan, with Leigh Fermor in Greece and wrote over 60 highly acclaimed biographies and works of travel, including The Light Garden of the Angel King.
Content
List of Illustrations
'How Pleasant to Know Mr Lear'
Foreword by Robin Hanbury-Tenison
INTRODUCTION
One BOYHOOD
Two THE PAINTER OF BIRDS
Three THE LITHOGRAPHER
Four INTIMATE INTERLUDES
Five ITALY
Six SOUTHERN ITALY
Seven A TASTE OF GREEK LANDS
Eight LEAR AT FORTY
Nine CORFU
Ten THE DEATH OF ANN
Eleven GREECE
Twelve CRETE
Thirteen SUCCESS
Fourteen THE HOUSE AT SAN REMO
FIfteen TO SEA IN A SIEVE
Sixteen INDIA
Seventeen THE FALL OF A HOUSE OF CARDS
Eighteen THE VILLA TENNYSON
Nineteen THE DEATH OF EDWARD
Appendix A: The plants in Lear's garden
Appendix B: Children of Jeremiah Lear and Ann Skerritt
Notes and References
Bibliography
'How Pleasant to Know Mr Lear'
Foreword by Robin Hanbury-Tenison
INTRODUCTION
One BOYHOOD
Two THE PAINTER OF BIRDS
Three THE LITHOGRAPHER
Four INTIMATE INTERLUDES
Five ITALY
Six SOUTHERN ITALY
Seven A TASTE OF GREEK LANDS
Eight LEAR AT FORTY
Nine CORFU
Ten THE DEATH OF ANN
Eleven GREECE
Twelve CRETE
Thirteen SUCCESS
Fourteen THE HOUSE AT SAN REMO
FIfteen TO SEA IN A SIEVE
Sixteen INDIA
Seventeen THE FALL OF A HOUSE OF CARDS
Eighteen THE VILLA TENNYSON
Nineteen THE DEATH OF EDWARD
Appendix A: The plants in Lear's garden
Appendix B: Children of Jeremiah Lear and Ann Skerritt
Notes and References
Bibliography