The following are on sale on eBay: they are attributed to Edward Lear and were made for publication in William Jardine’s “Naturalist’s Library” printed by William Home Lizars. The ones representing birds are remarkably similar to Lear’s early imaginary birds (also).
The ones with butterflies might also be by Edward Lear: here and here.
The date 1822 seems too early for Edward Lear, who was born in 1812, though the signature looks like his (in later years). This in any case is a photograph on sale on eBay and not the original.
Edward Lear, Μελάνι και μολύβι σε χαρτί, 157 x 233 mm. Τόπος και χρόνος κάτω αριστερά και κάτω δεξιά: «Taÿgetus / 22 March 1849 / 4 P.M. / (near Mistra?)», αριθμοί κάτω δεξιά: «(62)», «62» και «72». Σε κορνίζα.
[Ink and pencil on paper, 157 x 233 mm. Place and time lower left and lower right: ‘Taÿgetus / 22 March 1849/4 P.M. / (near Mistra?) “, numbers at the bottom right:” (62) “,” 62 “and” 72 “.]
Edward Lear, Study of a King Vulture.
Signed lower left: “E Lear del.”, dated lower right: “Aril 1832”, and inscribed lower center: “Sarcoramphus papa (Linn. )/ Drawn from life at the/Surrey Zoological Gardens”
Watercolor over pencil heightened with bodycolor and gum arabic. 1832. 10″ x 12 3/4″ sheet, 15 1/4″ x 17 1/4″.
Provenance
The ornithologist T.H. Newman; By whom given to the Zoological Society of London; Sold through Wheldon and Wesley, 1992; Private Collection.
Edward Lear, Han Valiarè.
Title and signature lower right: Ruins of Han Valiere / April 1, 1857. 12,5 x 19,5 cm. Watercolour on paper.
At the Han of Valiare, between Gardiki and Ioannina, 600 people from Gardiki were slaughtered on March 15, 1812 by order of Ali Pasha. It is thought that it was an act of revenge, for the acts of violence committed by the former many years ago against the mother and sister of the pasha.
Edward Lear, Lugano.
Inscribed and dated ‘Lugano. 19th. Octobr / 1837.’ (centre left). Pencil heightened with white on buff paper. 9 3⁄8 x 14 1⁄4 in. (23.8 x 36.2 cm.)
Provenance
Acquired from Thos Agnew & Sons, London, February 1980.
Exhibited
London, Thos Agnew & Sons, 107th Annual Exhibition of Watercolours, no. 164, February 1980.
This lot is part of a group of drawings dating from Lear’s tour of Europe in the summer of 1837. Having spent the early summer of 1837 in Devon, Lear returned to London in early July and from there set off for the Continent on the Antwerp packet boat on 10 July, in the company of his sister Ann with whom he travelled as far as Brussels. He then passed through Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland before spending September and October in the Italian Lakes, reaching Florence in November and Rome in early December. For most of the next ten years, Lear spent the winter in Rome and visited the rest of Italy in the summer.
The highly finished pencil work with white highlights is typical of Lear’s early style.
Edward Lear, The Wheelchair.
Pencil. c.1835. For a similar drawing see the sheet made on Lear’s 1836 Lake District tour (inscribed “Umbrellafera”) in the Houghton Library, Harvard University. 3.25×4.75 inches. Framed: 7×8.5 inches.
Abbott and Holder. No. 81.
Edward Lear, English Rural Landscape with Sheep Grazing beside a Tree.
Monogrammed and dated “Nov 12 1849” lower right, watercolour, 22cm x 31cm.
Provenance
Franklin Lushington (1823-1901) and thence by descent.
Edward Lear, Near Calikut, Malabar.
Indian river landscape with hills to the distance, monogrammed lower right, titled lower left, watercolour, 10cm x 20cm.
Calicut, now known as Kozhikode, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India.
Provenance
Franklin Lushington (1823-1901) and thence by descent.
Franklin Lushington, the son of Edmund Henry Lushington, was appointed judge to the Supreme Court of Justice in the Ionian Islands in 1855 and Lear went with him to live in Corfu. They had met in Malta in 1849, where Franklin’s elder brother Henry was Chief Secretary to the government. On his death, Lear left all his papers to Lushington, who later destroyed most of them.
Edward Lear, Indian River Landscape with Palm Trees and Hills.
Indian river landscape with palm trees and hills to the distance, probably Malabar monogrammed lower right, watercolour, 10cm x 20cm
Provenance
Franklin Lushington (1823-1901) and thence by descent.
Franklin Lushington, the son of Edmund Henry Lushington, was appointed judge to the Supreme Court of Justice in the Ionian Islands in 1855 and Lear went with him to live in Corfu. They had met in Malta in 1849, where Franklin’s elder brother Henry was Chief Secretary to the government. On his death, Lear left all his papers to Lushington, who later destroyed most of them.
Thanks, as usual, to Stephen Duckworth.
A Blog of Bosh 