A Book of Nonsense

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A Book of Nonsense

work by Lear

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A Book of Nonsense is a collection of limericks by Edward Lear, first published in 1846. Lear, an English artist and writer, is renowned for his original nonsense verse and for popularizing the limerick form. His nonsense poems often feature fantastical creatures and invented words, frequently carrying an underlying sense of melancholy, which is complemented by his engaging pen-and-ink drawings.12

The limerick is a five-line humorous verse with an aabba rhyme scheme, typically employing anapestic meter. Lear created these verses for the grandchildren of the earl of Derby, and they became a significant contribution to the genre of nonsense literature, influencing later writers like Lewis Carroll. National Limerick Day is celebrated on May 12, Lear's birthday, in recognition of his contributions.312

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nonsense verse
…could be considered 1846, when Book of Nonsense was published; this was a collection of limericks composed and illustrated by the artist Edward Lear, who first created them in the 1830s for the children of the earl of Derby.
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…could be considered 1846, when Book of Nonsense was published; this was a collection of limericks composed and illustrated by the artist Edward Lear, who first created them in the 1830s for the children of the earl of Derby.
Read More

Edward Lear
…grandchildren that he produced his Book of Nonsense (1846, enlarged 1861). In 1835 he decided to become a landscape painter.
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…grandchildren that he produced his Book of Nonsense (1846, enlarged 1861). In 1835 he decided to become a landscape painter.
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limerick
…and illustrated those in his Book of Nonsense (1846), claimed to have gotten the idea from a nursery rhyme beginning “There was an old man of Tobago.” A typical example from Lear’s collection is this verse:
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…and illustrated those in his Book of Nonsense (1846), claimed to have gotten the idea from a nursery rhyme beginning “There was an old man of Tobago.” A typical example from Lear’s collection is this verse:
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children’s literature
From T.W. to Alice (1712?–1865)
…a genius, Edward Lear, whose Book of Nonsense (1846) was partly the product of an emergent and not easily explainable Victorian feeling for levity and partly the issue of a fruitfully neurotic personality, finding relief for its frustrations in the noncontingent world of the absurd and the free laughter of…
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…a genius, Edward Lear, whose Book of Nonsense (1846) was partly the product of an emergent and not easily explainable Victorian feeling for levity and partly the issue of a fruitfully neurotic personality, finding relief for its frustrations in the noncontingent world of the absurd and the free laughter of…
Read More