Edward Lear and
Nonsense
Edward Lear (1812-88), an accomplished ornithological draftsman, wrote and
illustrated several journals during his European travels, and for a while acted
as Queen Victoria's drawing master at Osborne House. But his real fame and
fortune came from A Book of Nonsense (1846) when he was thirty-four. In
the first edition Lear was identified in a limerick on the cover as "Derry
down Derry - who loved to see little folks merry." The public did
not know who the author was until his name appeared on the title page of the
1861 enlarged edition. Even then, some had their doubts (see below).
Lear lived to see thirty more editions printed before he died. Around
1870 a rare edition appeared with all 113 illustrations (done by lithography) in
color. The year in which A Book of Nonsense appeared, 1846, also saw the
publication of Mary Howitt's translation of Andersen's fairy tales, Wonderful
Stories for Children. Through these two books nonsense and fantasy for
children began to gain an honorable estate.
The effect of nonsense
in Lear in many cases depends upon a "picture and poem discrepancy (Byrom)."
In 73 the bird is not merely four times as big as the bush -it is as big as the
man, who looks exactly like the bird. Furthermore, the verse implies a neutral
inspection, whereas the picture shows an almost eyeball-to-eyeball
confrontation. In 74, the verse describes the drama in very certain terms:
the Old Man shouts out that he is afloat, and they flatly contradict him. But
the illustration renders it all very uncertain: even they do not have their feet
on the ground, and it is hard to tell where land ends and the water begins.
Perhaps they are all three afloat. In 75, cartoon and verse are very
discrepant. The illustration shows the Bee, the Man, Them and the boredom.
But they are not questioning the Old Man, nor is there any sign of buzzing.
Instead, They are depicted jumping in the air with surprise - and it is
easy to see why. The giant Bee seems about to turn into the Man and vice
versa.
From the title page of More Nonsense (1888 edition, first published 1872).
There is a story that Lear loved to tell of a train ride he took one day
from London to Guilford. Two small boys, accompanied by two ladies,
entered his carriage. One boy carried a copy of the 1861 edition of A Book
of Nonsense. After seating themselves and opening the book, the boys soon
started to shake with laughter. Their laughter prompted an old gentleman
in the carriage to remark that the real author was Lord Derby, 'Lear' being an
anagram of 'Earl.' Moreover, asserted this gentleman, "there is
no such person as Edward Lear." Lear tried to convince them of the truth:
"I took off my hat and showed it all round, with Edward Lear and the
address in large letters - also one of my cards, and a marked handkerchief: on
which amazement devoured those benighted individuals and I left them to gnash
their teeth in trouble and tumult (OCCL)." Lear has cleverly drawn
himself with photographic realism and the man who said he did not exist as a
caricature.
Lear's limericks often evoke wonder as a response to the world. Here the young lady of Firle stares ecstatically out of the picture, her hands are open, her arms outflung, and her hair embraces the world.