Edward Lear is our Author Focus today

Edward Lear was an English writer, artist, and musician best known for his nonsense -style poetry and literature, as in his poem "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat". He was born May 12th, 1812 in Middlesex, England, to Jeremiah Lear and Ann Clark Skerrett. He was the second last child of 21 to be born to his parents, and he was raised by his older sister Ann from the time he was four years old due to limited family finances. Edward suffered from epilepsy, asthma, and bronchitis, which led to bouts of depression throughout his life. By the time he was 16 years old, Edward was earning money with his drawings, and he was only 19 when his first publication of his artwork was released titled Parrots (1830).

Edward Lear's life as an author began in 1846 when his volume of limericks titled A Book of Nonsense was published.
Edward Lear's book A Book of Nonsense helped to popularize the limerick itself, as well as the literary nonsense genre of writing.
Edward Lear's limericks usually have the same last word in the first and fifth line.
Edward Lear's most famous nonsense poem was "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat", published in his book Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets (1871).
"The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" was written for Edward Lear's friend's daughter Janet Symonds. She was three years old at the time and the daughter of poet John Addington Symonds. In the poem the word "runcible" was invented and used for the first time.
"The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" has been set to music and recorded many times since it was written, and has been made into a cartoon, and mentioned in many different forms of media including films, albums, and TV shows.
Edward Lear's nonsense books became popular during his lifetime, and many credit him with making the limerick popular.
The Book of Nonsense was written for the Earl of Derby's grandchildren. Edward was living at the Earl's residence for many years.
Edward Lear's painting The Plains of Lombardy from Monte Generoso rests in Oxford at the Ashmolean Museum.
Edward Lear played a variety of instruments including the piano, guitar, flute, and the accordion. He was known for creating music for Tennyson's poetry.
Edward Lear had a fascination with illustrating Tennyson's poems. He eventually published a small volume of these illustrations.
Edward Lear traveled to Greece, Egypt, India, Ceylon, Switzerland, Italy and eventually settled on the Mediterranean coastal town of San Remo where he lived in a villa he named Villa Tennyson.
Edward Lear died in 1888 after 18 years of suffering from heart disease, on top of all the other health issues he suffered from since childhood. He was also partially blind.
Edward Lear never married, but had friends instead.
Edward Lear's work includes three volumes of A Book of Nonsense, The Jumblies, His Shoes Were Far Too Tight, The Quangle Wangle's Hat, There Was an Old Man, Bisky Bats and Pussy Cats, The Pobble who Has No Toes, and many other books.