Order Nr. 25739 NONSENSUS: CROSS-REFERENCING EDWARD LEAR'S ORIGINAL 116 LIMERICKS WITH EIGHT HOLOGRAPH MANUSCRIPTS AND COMPARING THEM TO PRINTED TEXTS FROM THE 1846,1855 AND 1861 VERSIONS; TOGETHER WITH A CENSUS OF KNOWN COPIES OF THE GENUINE FIRST EDITION. Justin G. Schiller.

NONSENSUS: CROSS-REFERENCING EDWARD LEAR'S ORIGINAL 116 LIMERICKS WITH EIGHT HOLOGRAPH MANUSCRIPTS AND COMPARING THEM TO PRINTED TEXTS FROM THE 1846,1855 AND 1861 VERSIONS; TOGETHER WITH A CENSUS OF KNOWN COPIES OF THE GENUINE FIRST EDITION.

(Lear, Edward).

With introductory remarks by Vivien Noakes.

  • Stroud: Catalpa Press, 1988.
  • oblong 8vo.
  • stiff paper wrappers.
  • xii, 119 pages.
  • ISBN: 0904995135

Price: $35.00  other currencies

Order Nr. 25739

A fascinating census of the limericks in Edward Lear's Book of Nonsense,which was first published in 1846 as two separate volumes with seventy-three limericks. A "new" (i.e. second) edition came out in 1855, and a third edition with forty-three additional verses was published in 1861. This third edition provides the first full text and also identifies Lear as the author for the first time. It is often considered the first "trade" version, as it was published by Routledge, Warne & Routledge and consequently received broader distribution and readership. Justin Schiller has cross-referenced the 116 limericks in the third edition with eight manuscripts for this book (which are now preserved in various rare book collections) and compared them to the printed texts of the 1846, 1855 and 1861 editions. This volume also contains a census of known copies of the genuine first edition.