A New Nonsense Alphabet

by Edward Lear, Susan Hyman

Edward Lear's inimitable nonsense - pictures, stories, rhymes, songs, botany and alphabets - has amused and delighted both children and adults for nearly 150 years. Much of it was composed on the spur of the moment to entertain the children of his hosts, and marked the beginning of what was often a lifelong friendship.

In the summer of 1862 Lear was a frequent guest at the country house of a couple who had a baby granddaughter. On his return to London he wrote her a charming letter, addressed to 'My dear little tiny child', in which he described himself as a respectable old cove who is very fond of small children & will give you an Alphabet bye & bye'.

The pronounced alphabet, drawn in deep blue ink on pale blue linen, was duly delivered and, along with Lear's letter, is reproduced for the first time in this exquisite book.

'A New Nonsense Alphabet' is an enchanting gift for absolutely anyone - your godchild, your grandfather, your sister-in-law, your best friend - or you yourself.

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1871

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

[Gerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edward Lear originally wrote his Nonsense Alphabet in 1862 after the genesis for the alphabet had occurred to him while on an island in the Ionian Sea when he was wintering in Corfu, pursuing his combined careers as a travel writer and landscape artist. On his return home he visited some friends and it was produced for the friend's baby granddaughter but it was not published until it appeared in 'Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany and Alphabets' in 1871.

He noted in his diary at the time of writing the alphabet, 'Rose at 6.30 & made an alphabet for the Decie baby till 9 ... lunch at 1.30 - very jovial, hospitable folk! - After this I finished the baby Alphabet till 3.30.' The Alphabet was drawn in deep blue ink on pale blue linen and that is how it is reproduced here in this book. The capital letter is followed by an appropriate drawing, eg capital A followed by some ants milling around and a short verse about ants followed by a lower case a and a one line axiom about ants! And it runs through to Z for zinc and a verse about 'beautiful zinc!'

The Alphabet is followed by his working documents in developing the same and a rather bizarre section entitled 'The Discoveries', which seem to be four artefacts that Lear had discovered at Clarence House, Roehampton; they are a plant stand, a coal scuttle, a stand alone coat hanger and a type of letter rack. Each item is accompanied by semi-humorous text.

[Muhuawu wu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations of this book are simple and easy to understand. Moreover, they are very detailed and drawn out with a pen. They are beautiful yet graceful. There is no color added to the pages. The entire picture is simple but the hand writing was amazing. The book is amazing art work yet has a meaningful message. I think it is really good for kid to read it. In addition, the story are with writing and a coherent structure which is screaming to be read aloud. Highly recommend. Besides, the language of this book is lively, concise and not overly didactic. In the book, Edward Lear's inimitable nonsense - pictures, songs, rhymes and stories - have amused and delighted the young and old for nearly 150 years. This alphabet, originally drawn in deep blue ink on pale blue linen, was written by Lear in 1862 for the granddaughter of a friend and has been faithfully reproduced for the first time with its numerous illustrations.