Edward Lear’s natural-history illustration won him scientific
credibility. Now his nonsense verse may do the same “How
pleasant to know Mr. Lear,” begins one of Edward Lear’s poems.
His bicentennary last year helped many people know him better,
with multiple exhibits of his natural-history paintings and
drawings. Lear gained acclaim as an illustrator at age 19 for
his work on parrots. Shortly thereafter, The Earl of Derby
invited Lear to his estate near Liverpool to make portraits of
specimens in his vast collection of exotic animals and plants.
“Lear was somewhat lonely at Knowsley Hall,” says Robert Peck, a
Lear scholar and senior fellow of Drexel University’s Academy of
Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. “He was overwhelmed at times
by the English social class structure.” To overcome this, he
began making drawings and verses for the Earl’s grandchildren.
Later he published the verses, but he used a pseudonym for many
years. “He was concerned that the frivolous nature of his
limericks would undercut his cred