Edward Lear (London, 1812, San Remo 1888) is considered by many the first true writer of limericks, and it seems fair to dedicate a short biography in this blog.
After having experienced a difficult adolescence (twenty brothers and a father in debtor's prison) Edward Lear's life was troubled from childhood by his poor health (he was epileptic and asthmatic), but soon began to make drawings or sketches character zoological , which allowed him to earn a living since adolescence. As a naturalist painter earned the favor of the Earl of Derby who was home in his house, where he began to write his limericks to amuse the children of the Count.
In order to visit places more appropriate for her health, facilitated in this by his work, Edward Lear pass most of his life to travel, especially by binding with Italy: in 1837 en route to Rome, from there will travel a lot in the south. During all his travels Lear produces numerous reports illustrated. The only one of these was published in Italy "Diary of a journey on foot - Reggio Calabria and its province (25 July to 5 September 1847) " , published by Laruffa publisher.
After having experienced a difficult adolescence (twenty brothers and a father in debtor's prison) Edward Lear's life was troubled from childhood by his poor health (he was epileptic and asthmatic), but soon began to make drawings or sketches character zoological , which allowed him to earn a living since adolescence. As a naturalist painter earned the favor of the Earl of Derby who was home in his house, where he began to write his limericks to amuse the children of the Count.
In order to visit places more appropriate for her health, facilitated in this by his work, Edward Lear pass most of his life to travel, especially by binding with Italy: in 1837 en route to Rome, from there will travel a lot in the south. During all his travels Lear produces numerous reports illustrated. The only one of these was published in Italy "Diary of a journey on foot - Reggio Calabria and its province (25 July to 5 September 1847) " , published by Laruffa publisher.
Four years of work allowed him to collect his limerick accompanied by illustrations in the famous book A Book of Nonsense public in 1846 that behind the pseudonym Derry Down Derry .
nonsense of Edward Lear's work is not merely the limerick: Lear dabbled in botany or alphabets to write nonsense, which met in the book Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany and Alphabets.
Above: the first edition of A Book of Nonsense A Book of Nonsense began with this limerick
There Was an Old Derry down Derry, who loved to see little folks merry;
Them So he made a book, and with laughter at the fun of They Shook That Derry down Derry.
Altri limerick scelti dal volume, correlati dalla loro illustrazione
There was an Old Man with a nose,
Who said, 'If you choose to suppose,
That my nose is too long,
You are certainly wrong!'
That remarkable Man with a nose.
There was an Old Lady of Chertsey,
Who made a remarkable curtsey;
She twirled round and round,
Till she sunk underground,
Which distressed all the people of Chertsey.
There was an Old Man of the Hague,
Whose ideas were excessively vague; He built a balloon
To Examine the moon,
That deluded Old Man of the Hague.
There Was an Old Derry down Derry, who loved to see little folks merry;
Them So he made a book, and with laughter at the fun of They Shook That Derry down Derry.
Altri limerick scelti dal volume, correlati dalla loro illustrazione
There was an Old Man with a nose, Who said, 'If you choose to suppose,
That my nose is too long,
You are certainly wrong!'
That remarkable Man with a nose.
There was an Old Lady of Chertsey, Who made a remarkable curtsey;
She twirled round and round,
Till she sunk underground,
Which distressed all the people of Chertsey.
There was an Old Man of the Hague, Whose ideas were excessively vague; He built a balloon
To Examine the moon,
That deluded Old Man of the Hague.
a testament to what is not true that Lear was the inventor of the limerick, there are at least a two pamphlets published in 1820 and in 1821 one of which is news. The first is The History of Sixteen Wonderful Old Women, illustrated by as many Engravings: exhibing Their Principal Eccentricities and Amusements , published anonymously by John Harris and Son. Here's an example from one of its pages.
OLD WOMAN OF BATH
There was an Old Woman of Bath,
And She Was as thin as a Lath,
She Was brown as a berry,
With a Nose like a Cherry;
This skinny Old Woman of Bath.
There was an Old Woman of Bath, And She Was as thin as a Lath,
She Was brown as a berry,
With a Nose like a Cherry;
This skinny Old Woman of Bath.
The second book is Anecdotes and Adventures of Fifteen Gentlemen , published by John Marshall and probably written by Richard Sharpe Scrafton and illustrated by Robert Cruikshank. Here's an example taken from this volume.
An old gentleman living at Harwich,
At ninety Was thinking of marriage,
Came In His Granson,
Who Was just twenty-one,
And Went off with the bride in His carriage.
An old gentleman living at Harwich,
At ninety Was thinking of marriage,
Came In His Granson,
Who Was just twenty-one,
And Went off with the bride in His carriage.
That can not be recognized the primacy of time obviously does not mean anything to the importance of Edward Lear, still considered among the most important English writers of the 800 the "father of the limerick."
