Edward Lear (1812-1888) was an English artist, illustrator and writer known for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose, and especially his limericks, a form which he popularised. At the age of 19 his first Illustrated work Family of Psittacidae; or, Parrots was published in 1830. His paintings were well received and he was favourably compared with Audubon. In 1846 Lear published A Book of Nonsense, a volume of limericks which went through three editions and helped popularise the form. In 1865 The History of the Seven Families of the Lake Pipple-Popple was published, and in 1867 his most famous piece of nonsense, The Owl and the Pussycat, which he wrote for the children of his patron Edward Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby. Many other works followed. His nonsense works are distinguished by a facility of verbal invention and a poet's delight in the sounds of words, both real and imaginary.

A collection of over 100 limericks with the author's original illustrations.

Edward Lear's much celebrated book of nonsense is here reproduced with all the original pictures and verse and two autobiographical letters by the author. Children and adults alike will delight in the Limerick's that here abound. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

In The Sound of Nonsense, Richard Elliott highlights the importance of sound in understanding the 'nonsense' of writers such as Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, James Joyce and Mervyn Peake, before connecting this noisy writing to works which engage more directly with sound, including sound poetry, experimental music and pop. By emphasising sonic factors, Elliott makes new and fascinating connections between a wide range of artistic examples to ultimately build a case for the importance of sound in creating, maintaining and disrupting meaning.

Have you ever felt frustrated with the words of the worship songs that we sing? Why are they so forgettable? Why are they filled with such weird language? Where have all the writers gone? Combining humour with strong argument, Nick Page analyses how worship song writers have bought into a disposable, 'pop-song' model; how they have filled their songs with a kind of semi-Biblical code and how songs suffer from poor technique and a lack of specialist lyric writers. Above all it encourages writers to really think about the words of their songs and whether they really communicate truth about God - truth which should lead to worship. Passionate, controversial and laugh-out-loud funny, this is essential reading for Christians today.