Edward Lear

Born in 1812 near London, Edward Lear built an unusually varied career as an artist, illustrator, musician, and writer. Before becoming famous for comic verse, he was admired for his detailed drawings of birds and for his landscape painting, and he spent much of his life traveling through Europe and the Mediterranean.

Lear is now remembered above all for his nonsense writing. A Book of Nonsense helped popularize the limerick, and poems such as The Owl and the Pussy-cat made him a classic of children's literature. His humor is playful and musical, but it often carries a gentle loneliness that gives his work surprising depth.

He died in San Remo, Italy, in 1888. More than a century later, his work still appeals to readers of all ages because it is both funny and beautifully odd, with a distinctive voice that no one else quite matches.