He was born in 1812 — just 200 years ago. When he was a boy his father suffered a great financial reversal, so his formal education was curtailed and the family’s change of circumstances haunted him to the end of his days. His artistic talent, his unlikely and surprising humour, his eye for character, have made him into a national treasure.
Haven’t we heard enough about Charles Dickens this year? Well, the paragraph above isn’t anything to do with Dickens. Happy 200th birthday, Mr Edward Lear.
The work of Lear is as essential to our literary heritage as that of his