Research Catalog

The natural history of Edward Lear

Title
The natural history of Edward Lear / Robert McCracken Peck ; foreword by David Attenborough.
Author
Peck, Robert McCracken, 1952-
Publication
Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2021]

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StatusFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
TextUse in library JFF 21-519Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Additional Authors
Attenborough, David, 1926-
Description
xi, 227 pages : illustrations (chiefly color); 26 cm
Summary
"Edward Lear is well known as the brilliant writer of nonsense poetry, children's books, and travel books who popularized the limerick, and wrote verses such as "The Owl and the Pussycat." But few people are aware that Lear was one of the most talented and accomplished painters of natural history subjects in the nineteenth century, and worked with British scientists, collectors, and publishers to make Britain the nexus for scientific investigation and its circulation. One of the best ornithological artists of his generation, Lear published his first book, a monograph on the parrot family, at age 18, and established a format that would be followed by decades by such publishers as John Gould, with whom he worked closely and often anonymously. Over his career, Lear produced a multitude of drawings of birds and mammals from around the world for scientific publications, public institutions, and individual patrons, not just of English species, but of birds and mammals from Australia, New Zealand, and the Americas. He is also the Lear in the name of the rare species Lear's Macaw. In this book, Peck has assembled the first comprehensive view of this important part of Lear's career. Featuring over 200 illustrations and a foreword by Sir David Attenborough, the book also examines the influence Lear had on modern artists such as Walton Ford and Tony Foster. This new edition includes a new chapter that addresses Lear's continued fascination with wildlife and the natural world after giving up his career as a scientific illustrator, and his fascination with domestic pets, from his own beloved cat which he cartooned repeatedly, to the portraits of dogs owned by his family and friends, alongside thirteen never-before-published illustrations, including fully finished watercolors, rough preliminary sketches, and whimsical cartoons"--
Subject
  • Lear, Edward, 1812-1888
  • 1800-1899
  • Natural history illustrators > Great Britain > Biography
  • Artists > Great Britain > Biography
  • Poets, English > 19th century > Biography
  • Natural history illustration > Great Britain
  • Artists
  • Natural history illustration
  • Natural history illustrators
  • Poets, English
  • Great Britain
Genre/Form
Biographies.
Note
  • "First published in 2016 by David R. Godine, Publisher, Inc."--Colophon.
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references and index.
Call Number
JFF 21-519
ISBN
  • 9780691217239
  • 0691217238
LCCN
2020046276
OCLC
1226979108
Author
Peck, Robert McCracken, 1952- author.
Title
The natural history of Edward Lear / Robert McCracken Peck ; foreword by David Attenborough.
Publisher
Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2021]
Edition
New edition.
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Chronological Term
1800-1899
Added Author
Attenborough, David, 1926- writer of foreword.
Research Call Number
JFF 21-519
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