Category Archives: Limerick

Mr Leer, Humpty Dumpty and Finnegan

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Marco Graziosi

There is an interesting article in the the London Review of Books (vol. 32, no. 24, 16 December 2010), “Quashed Quotatoes,” in which Michael Wood reviews a new edition of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake. The opening paragraphs discuss Joyce’s debt … Continue reading →

Posted in Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll, Limerick | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Non-Limericks 2: Alfred Crowquill

Posted on August 31, 2008 by Marco Graziosi

Like Thackeray, Alfred Crowquill (pseudonym for Alfred Henry Forrester) has his place in the prehistory of comics thanks to an 1849 booklet entitled A Goodnatured Hint about California, a satire of the California gold rush. Besides publishing a successful series … Continue reading →

Posted in Comics, Edward Lear, Limerick | 2 Comments

Non-Limericks 1: W.M. Thackeray

Posted on August 20, 2008 by Marco Graziosi

In his recent book on the Father of the Comic Strip: Rodolphe Töpffer (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2007), David Kunzle also discusses British parallels to the Genevan inventor of comics; among them a special section is devoted to William … Continue reading →

Posted in Comics, Edward Lear, Limerick | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Shadows

Posted on June 17, 2008 by Marco Graziosi

After the success of his two Topsy-Turvys, Peter Newell published A Shadow Book (New York: The Century Co., 1896) in which after looking at a picture, e.g. of an Arab leading a camel, you turn the page and place it … Continue reading →

Posted in Comics, Limerick, Peter Newell | Leave a comment

The Pig-Faced Woman and the Limerick

Posted on June 15, 2008 by Marco Graziosi

In the early months of 1815 London was swept by reports of a pig-faced lady living in Manchester Square: In the earlier part of this century, there was a kind of publication in vogue, somewhat resembling the more ancient broadside, … Continue reading →

Posted in Edward Lear, Limerick | 1 Comment

Carolyn Wells on the Limerick

Posted on November 21, 2007 by Marco Graziosi

A new article is available on the nonsenselit.org bookshelf: Carolyn Wells, “Limericks.” Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly, vol. 55, no. 5, March 1903, pp. 532-5. It mostly consists of limericks by authors well-know at the turn of the twentieth century. Worth … Continue reading →

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A Cubist Romance

Posted on August 2, 2007 by Marco Graziosi

Over at 5lines (A limerick a day!) I am publishing a series by Oliver Herford which appeared in the Century Magazine between 1911 and 1913. Here is another humorous poem which appeared in the same magazine in the June 1930 … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Limerick | Leave a comment

A Geography of the Early Limerick

Posted on August 23, 2006 by Marco Graziosi

Ever since I heard of Google Earth I realised it would be very useful for limerick lovers, but I was too lazy to try and find out how to create interactive maps until I found this post at the Stoa … Continue reading →

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The Woozlebeasts

Posted on February 16, 2006 by Marco Graziosi

The architect, John Prentiss Benson (1865-1947), had always dreamed of becoming an artist like his older brother Frank. In 1905 he lived in Flushing NY with his wife and four children and worked at his architecture firm of Benson and … Continue reading →

Posted in Comics, Gustave Verbeek, Limerick | Leave a comment

American Limericks

Posted on February 10, 2006 by Marco Graziosi

I had just finished my previous post when I received the following article from Arthur: A New Book of Nonsense The nonsense craze started by Edward Lear in the 1840s eventually swept through the entire English speaking world. The spread, … Continue reading →

Posted in Limerick | 1 Comment