EDWARD LEAR - Selected Letters (First edition - first impression - illustrated)

First impression of the true first edition, published in Oxford by the Clarendon Press in 1988. Illustrated throughout within the text, and with a full-page frontispiece showing a photograph of Edward Lear c.1865, by Perret. ***Near fine in navy-blue cloth-covered boards with gilt titles to the spine. Head and tail of spine just slightly creased - otherwise no bumps or creases. Corners sharp. Boards beautifully clean. Page block edges clean. No reading lean to the binding. Spine tight. Internally also near fine with no inscriptions or annotations. No foxing. Paper crisp and bright. Printed on nice high quality paper in a firm binding. ***In a near fine illustrated dustwrapper, which has not been price-clipped, retaining the original publisher's printed price of £19.50 net. The dustwrapper is complete, with no discernible faults. No creases, chips or tears. No fading. Dustwrapper clean and bright. ***221mm x 145mm. 325 pages including a detailed section of Notes, and a very detailed Index at the back of the book. ***'Edward Lear (12 May 1812 - 29 Jan 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularised. His principal areas of work as an artist were threefold: as a draughtsman employed to make illustrations of birds and animals, making coloured drawings during his journeys (which he reworked later, sometimes as plates for his travel books) and as a minor illustrator of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poems. As an author, he is known principally for his popular nonsense collections of poems, songs, short stories, botanical drawings, recipes and alphabets. He also composed and published twelve musical settings of Tennyson's poetry.' (Wiki) ***'This is the first edition of Edward Lear's letters for nearly eighty years, and the first to draw on all his known correspondence, which is now scattered in private and public collections throughout the world. Most of the letters have never before been published. They span the years from 1826, when Lear was thirteen, to shortly before his death in 1888, and trace both his private life and his career -- as one of the greatest ornithological draughtsmen this country has ever produced, as landscape painter, traveller, and nonsense writer.' (Quote taken from the front flap of the dustwrapper) ***A near fine copy of the true first edition, complete in its original dustwrapper. Printed on quality paper. When published, the first edition of Edward Lear's letters to be published for nearly eighty years. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.…