Category Archives: Edward Lear

Edward Lear, View of Sorrento (1839)

Edward Lear, View of Sorrento. Signed and dated ‘Edward Lear del./1839’ (lower right) and inscribed ‘Sorrento’ (lower left) pencil and black chalk heightened with white. 9 7/8 x 16 ½ in. (25 x 42 cm.) Lear spent the summer of 1838 travelling … Continue reading

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Georgiana Peel’s Recollections of Edward Lear

Lady Georgiana Peel, née Lady Georgiana Adelaide Russell, (1836-1922) was Archibald Peel’s second wife; he was a friend Edward Lear frequently mentioned in the diaries. A book of her memoirs was published in 1920 by her daughter; unfortunately, the editing … Continue reading

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Edward Lear, Pentedatelo and Jenidgé

Two undated watercolours to be auctioned at Bonhams: Pentedatelo (Pentedattilo, Calabria, Italy), signed with monogram. Jenidgé (Macedonia).

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Edward Lear’s First Impressions of Malta (an unpublished letter)

[This previously unpublished letter to his elder sister Ann tells of Edward Lear’s leaving Italy because of the 1848 insurrections; he was on his way to Corfu, where he had been invited by G.F. Bowen. It also contains Lear’s first … Continue reading

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An 1852 Review of “Journals of a Landscape Painter in Southern Calabria”

Journals of a Landscape Painter in Southern Calabria, &c. By Edward Lear, Author of “Journals of a Lnadscape Painter in Albania,” &c. ―London: Bentley, 1852. This splendidly got up volume contains a simple but lively and graphic narrative of a … Continue reading

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Edward Lear, View of Florence from Villa Petraja (1861)

Edward Lear, View of Florence from Villa Petraja. Signed with monogram and dated EL /1861 at lower left. Oil on canvas. 
47 x 75.5 cm (18 ½ x 29 ¾ in.). ‘At present I am at work ferociously on the … Continue reading

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Christmas Holiday Reading Online

Several new books by Edward Lear are now available in full online; of particular interest: Lear, Edward. A Book of Nonsense. First Edition. London: T. McLean, 1846. [Florida State University Digital Library] Lear, Edward. A Book of Nonsense. Third Edition. … Continue reading

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Review of an Edward Lear Exhibition, from The Tablet (1958)

Edward Lear IT is not only since the advent of Punch that Englishmen have claimed a sense of humour as their monopoly. As long ago as 1673 the Earl of Peterborough wrote of the Duchess of  Modena: “She is really … Continue reading

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Lear Drawings at King’s School, Canterbury

[In 2012, the King’s School in Canterbury held a bicentenary exhibition of its holdings of Edward Lear watercolours, part of an album of drawings donated by Hugh Walpole in 1938. Most of these works had already been presented by Charles … Continue reading

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Edward Lear, A View of Menton from across the Bay

Edward Lear, A view of Menton from across the bay. Signed with monogram (lower right). Pencil, watercolour and bodycolour. 16.5 x 26cm (6 1/2 x 10 1/4in). Lear had moved to Nice in November 1864 where he began work on … Continue reading

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