‘How pleasant to know Mr Lear!’: the travels, art, adventures and nonsense of Edward Lear - five online talks by Simon Rees

If you wish to register for this series after 10-Nov-25, please e-mail onlinetalks@martinrandall.co.uk

Edward Lear’s life began in poverty and ill-health – he suffered from bronchitis, asthma, epilepsy, depression and poor eyesight – but he thrived as an artist, a poet, a musician and writer of comic verse, gaining a huge reputation, especially for his limericks and their quirky illustrations, which survives to this day. This series of talks explores Lear’s beginnings, his patronages, friendships (some passionate), his adventures in Italy, Albania and India, and his eventual retirement to Italy.

Simon Rees has studied the poems and pictures of Lear since early childhood, memorising many of the limericks and songs. He has published his own collection of nonsense verse for children, Animals, Beasts and Creatures.

They take place every Monday from 10 November to 8 December 2025 at 4.30pm (London) and, including Q&A, will last just under an hour. They are available for viewing for eight weeks after the last episode is streamed (until 2 February 2026).