Edward Lear Collection

Edward Lear was an English artist, author, musician, and poet born in 1812. He has been dubbed by some the Father of Nonsense because of his use of literary nonsense throughout his work.The Edward Lear collection includes manuscripts and letters. One of his better-known works, Book of Nonsense published in 1846, includes the poem, "There was an old man of Narkunder." A handwritten manuscript of this poem can be found in this collection. Letters to William Holman Hunt, Henry Richards Luard, and others are present. Several of the letters include ink sketches by Lear.This collection was digitized as part of Project REVEAL (Read and View English & American Literature).