Limericks After Lear, Book Two

Limericks owe so much to Edward Lear. Were it not for his work in A Book of Nonsense, this little five line verse form may never have become such a beloved, ubiquitous part of our literary and popular culture.

An old man with a cane is energetically circled by a small dog. Illustration by Rory Walker for The Next Hundred Lears, by John Arthur Nichol.

In 1872, Edward Lear published one hundred new limericks. They were his last, and they sank like a stone. Nobody now remembers them.

His Book of Nonsense verses are still with us after a century and a half; so why did his final limericks fall into a black hole?

The reason is simple enough. The limerick had changed and Edward Lear hadn’t. He’d become, in a word, obsolete.

By 1872, the limerick had its own life and was a very busy verse form indeed, romping towards the twentieth century with outlandish, irreverent and often obscene delight. Readers wanted limericks with a punch line now, a joke at the end; it was something that Edward Lear couldn’t provide ... or perhaps he simply wouldn’t.

Edward Lear had set the limerick on its journey, but now he stood alone and watched it vanish in the distance.

But all is not lost, because ...

Limericks After Lear Strikes Again!

A girl screams as she rides on a galloping lizard. Illustration by Rory Walker for The Next Hundred Lears, by John Arthur Nichol.

In a daring, time-travelling, globe-spanning rescue mission, author John Arthur Nichol snatches Lear’s lost 100 limericks from the dust of Victorian England and brings them back to life, with the assistance of Rory Walker’s delightful illustrations and a fun-intended punch line for each and every (brand new) verse.

The Next Hundred Lears does for Lear's forgotten limericks of 1872 what The Fifth Line did for A Book of Nonsense, presenting all the original verses, plus a brand new, family-friendly, twist-in-the-tail limerick for each.

Here are two hundred limericks and ten wickedly funny illustrations you won’t have met before. Be under no misapprehension ...

Something in this book will make you giggle :)

An Italian policeman in a sash stands over a busking hyaena clutching an ocarina. Illustration by Rory Walker for The Next Hundred Lears, by John Arthur Nichol.

Preorder a copy!

Preorder The Next Hundred Lears now at your favourite ebook retailer, or the paperback at Amazon, Book Depository, Booktopia, Indiebound, or any good bookshop (they'll probably have to order it in for you but it won't take long - tell them the ISBN is 978-0-6489059-4-3).

Or On the Other Hand, You Could ...