Edward Lear, the Corfu years: A chronicle presented through his letters and journals

by Edward Lear

Lear's Corfu years coincide with the last years of the British Protectorate and his letters and previously unpublished journals written in Corfu, from which the text of this book is composed, form a commentary, as unique as it is biting and poignant. They also present a deeply moving account of an artist battling with his solitude in a world with whose values he is at odds.

Genres: Travel

244 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Edward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularised.
His principal areas of work as an artist were threefold: as a draughtsman employed to make illustrations of birds and animals; making coloured drawings during his journeys, which he reworked later, sometimes as plates for his travel books; and as a (minor) illustrator of Alfred Tennyson's poems.
As an author, he is known principally for his popular nonsense collections of poems, songs, short stories, botanical drawings, recipes and alphabets. He also composed and published twelve musical settings of Tennyson's poetry.

Reviews

[Anastasia Ioakimidou · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much information in this book. Great artwork by Edward Lear that you find in it. Interesting facts about his life and Corfu at that time.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not realize that Edward Lear was such an artist and that he lived in Corfu and was extremely taken with the Greek language. I just knew his limericks.