Author Archives: Marco Graziosi

Edward Lear, Views of Sta. Maura and Corfu

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Marco Graziosi

  Edward Lear, View of Amaxichi and the Fort, Santa Maura; and View of Corfu from the Benitza Road, near Gastouri. The first inscribed ‘Santa Maura’ (lower centre, in the margin), the second inscribed ‘Corfu’ (on a fragment attached to the … Continue reading →

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Edward Lear, Near Massa, 1838

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Marco Graziosi

  Edward Lear, Near Massa, Capri in the distance. Inscribed and dated ‘Near Massa, 22 August/1838’ (lower left) and with extensive colour notes throughout. Pencil on buff paper. 10 x 14 in. (25.4 x 25.5 cm.) Christie’s.

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Small Potatoes

Posted on July 19, 2014 by Marco Graziosi

Small Potatoes, by Mary G. Jones, ran in the New York Herald from 10 July to 6 September 1903; it was one of several nonsense-rhyme cartoons in the Sunday supplements of the early years of the 20th century. The strip above, … Continue reading →

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WS Gilbert’s Nonsense Poems

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Marco Graziosi

W.S. Gilbert never really wrote Nonsense; his Bab Ballads and other collections, while obviously influenced by Edward Lear ― especially in the strongly caricatural style of the pictures accompanying his poems in the early editions – are rather in the … Continue reading →

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A Wheelbarrow to Hell

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Marco Graziosi

In a previous post, The natural History of the Wheelbarrow, I published a series of images in which a woman was carried around in a wheelbarrow, usually by a loving husband or servants. The first image, however, showed a devil … Continue reading →

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The Gook

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Marco Graziosi

Gustave Verbeek‘s Loony Lyrics of Lulu, 17 July – 23 October 1910, presented an adventure of Lulu and her “papa” with a fantastic animal described in the last panel in a limerick composed by Lulu, a real tour de force, as … Continue reading →

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JP Benson’s Woozlebeasts

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Marco Graziosi

A rare example of a coloured Woozlebeasts strip by John Prentiss Benson (11 September 1904). On nonsenselit.org you will find the full run of the newspaper strips, in black and white, as well as the 1905 book published by Moffat, … Continue reading →

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Limericks!

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Marco Graziosi

A quick note on a few studies on the limerick I have read or re-read recently. Scheepers, Christoph, et al. “Listening to Limericks: A Pupillometry Investigation of Perceivers’ Expectancy.” PLoS ONE 8.9 (2013): e74986. The abstract appears to confirm what … Continue reading →

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Tolkien’s Nevbosh Limerick

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Marco Graziosi

From Joan Acocella’s “Slaying Monsters,” in The New Yorker for 2 June 2014, a review of the recently published translation of Beowulf by J.R.R. Tolkien: Tolkien was a serious philologist from the time he was a child. He and his cousin Mary … Continue reading →

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Edward Lear, Philae

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Marco Graziosi

Edward Lear, Philae. Signed with monogram (lower right). Oil on paper laid down on canvas. 13 3/8 x 21 ¼ in. (34 x 54 cm.) Lear visited Philae twice, in late January and early February 1854 and in January 1867. Christie’s.

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