I was astonished when I learned (thanks to The Art of the Bird: The History of Ornithological Art through Forty Artists) that that beloved writer of limericks, nonsense verse, and the immortal The Owl and the Pussycat (which I can still recite from memory after learning it 60+ years ago) was a breathtakingly gifted wildlife painter as a young man. Lederer's book was flawed by his emphasis on ornithology and lack of deep art historical acumen, and he covered dozens of European and American artists, so not many pages were available for any one of them. Peck, on the other hand, is deeply credentialed as a naturalist AND in the art world, and this beautiful and engaging book (a new paperback edition) focuses entirely on Lear's art. I was one happy camper.

Lear was the 20th child of 21, and when the family fortunes disintegrated, he went to live with his 25-year-old unmarried sister. She and another sister raised him together - he was essentially an "only child" with two moms - both of them cultured, loving, and artistically talented. In his teens, Lear became captivated by birds and animals and painting. He embarked on a project to produce a collection of color plates of parrots, to be sold on a subscription basis. He learned to do his own lithography for the reproduction of the plates. His skills drew the attention of zoo administrators, other artists, and publishers. It is a measure of his gift that John James Audubon bought a copy of his parrot collection, and one of Lear's mentors urged Audubon to take Lear along on his venture to the United States. Audubon begged off, and Lear's health being unreliable, he wasn't really keen on slogging through yellow-fever swamps and hacking his way through forests in buckskins anyway. Plus I suspect Audubon knew a redoubtable competitor when he saw one. Lear found enthusiastic patrons, a useful (if difficult and sometimes exploitive) boss, free access to menageries and aviaries, and spent years painting birds and animals for them.

And what pictures they are! Unlike many wildlife illustrators of his day (including Audubon), Lear preferred to work "from life," spending time observing and sketching live animals, and relying on taxidermied specimens and study skins just for detail. His birds pose naturally, their eyes gleam with life and personality, their feathers rise and fall and ruffle. His kangaroos are coy and charming, his camels supercilious and somehow ungainly and graceful at the same time. I wanted to hug his Tasmanian devil. His drawing of his boss's wife's pet vole is exquisite, and for a man who generally disliked dogs (though he loved cats), he could paint one of the most winsome spaniel portraits I've ever seen. The illustrations are well-chosen, high-quality, and laid out with elegance and ease - it's a pure pleasure to look at it.

Eventually, Lear's health and especially his eyesight made continuing with this demanding, detailed work too exhausting. His generous patron, the Earl of Derby, offered to subsidize his staying in Rome for two years - new environs, new flora and fauna, and a kinder climate all suited Lear. He travelled widely and focused on landscape painting, capturing the colors and atmospheres of exotic places in Europe, Egypt, the Middle East, and farther afield. Meanwhile, he was also producing funny drawings, silly poems, and long, chatty, pun-filled letters to friends and family. Peck includes these phases of his life and work as well (in less depth), including discussion of how other artists (including Beatrix Potter and Edward Gorey!) have illustrated Owl and Pussycat, Lear's hilarious cartoons accompanying his limericks, and the influence he has had on modern cartoonists and painters. Peck's book focuses on Lear's art, so information on his personal life outside that is sparse (try Jenny Uglow's Mr. Lear: A Life of Art and Nonsense for that.

A delightful book about a fascinating and astonishingly gifted man. Highly recommended! ( )