Lear, Edward, 1812–1888, Edward Lear letter to Ann Lear, 1849 January 16-February 3
- Call Number:
- MSS 59
- Holdings:
- Accessible by appointment in the Study Room [Request]
- Creator:
- Lear, Edward, 1812–1888
- Title(s):
- Edward Lear letter to Ann Lear
- Date:
- 1849 January 16-February 3
- Classification:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Series:
- Correspondence
- Part of Collection:
- Box 1, folder 1
- Provenance:
- Yale Center for British Art, Gift of Donald C. Gallup, Yale BA 1934, PhD 1939, Gallup's collecting of Edward Lear material is described in: Gallup, Donald C. "Collecting Edward Lear." The Yale University Library Gazette 61, no. 3/4 (1987): 125-42. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40858913. And in: Wilcox, Scott. Edward Lear and the art of travel. New Haven: Yale Center for British Art, 2000.
- Conditions Governing Access:
- The materials are open for research.
- Conditions Governing Use:
- Copyright UndeterminedThe collection is the physical property of the Yale Center for British Art. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the Archives Department.
- Scope and Content:
- Lear writes to his sister Ann, from “the desert: outside the walls of Suez.” He begins with a lengthy discussion of camel travel, pleasant as, “you are lifted up on the long necked monster--& away you go just as if on a rocking chair.” And yet they are quite irritable: “when I put the vegetable within a yard of him [Lear’s camel], he yells & grunts as if I were killing him….If you try to make them go faster—they grown: if you stop them or try to go slower—they growl also.” He describes the tents he stays in—very comfortable—as well as his hope to see pilgrims on their way to Mecca. Lear expresses his appreciation for the desert, writing that “these symptoms of civilization [i.e., beer, etc.] rather spoil the lonely character of the wide desert.” The letter spans multiple days, and later on Lear gives descriptions of his Arab travelling companions: he praises Ibrahim as sharp, quick, and a good cook; and says “2 are ‘blackymoors’—(but you know I never liked blackies, though you did make me walk round that chimneysweeper 33 years ago.)” Lear ends up missing the pilgrims to Mecca, and instead travels elsewhere, through mixed weather. He intersperses his account with references to scripture, such as that “it is not known how the Israelites came up to Mt. Sinai—but perhaps by Wady Feiran.” Lear references a “curious dance—but I must describe that at some other time,” and a visit to Mt. Sinai. He ends his letter near Suez, mentioning that he hopes to be in Jerusalem soon and that, “you would not know me if you saw me, as I have a beard not as well as Mustaches.” He includes instructions to send the letter, or perhaps something else enclosed, to a Robert A. Hornby, Esq. The letter includes a tiny sketch of several figures and a camel.
- Additional Notes:
- Written in black ink. Accompanied by a typescript transcription of the letter. This letter is transcribed in its entirety in Edward Lear: Selected Letters, edited by Vivien Noakes.
- Physical Description:
- 1 folded sheet (4 pages) : autograph letter, signed ; 27 x 43 cm, folded to 27 x 22 cm
- Genre:
- Correspondence , Pen and ink drawings, and Lists
- Subject Terms:
- CamelsDescription and travelMoore, Thomas, 1779-1852. By that lake, whose gloomy shoreRacism
- Associated Places:
- EgyptGreat BritainMediterranean Region
- Associated People/Groups:
- Hornby, Robert A., 1805-1857Lear, Ann, 1791-1861Lear, Edward, 1812-1888
- Finding Aid Title:
- Edward Lear archive
- Collection PDF:
- https://ead-pdfs.library.yale.edu/11283.pdf
- Archival Object:
- https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/2896657
- Metadata Cloud URL:
- https://metadata-api.library.yale.edu/metadatacloud/api/aspace/repositories/3/archival_objects/2896657?mediaType=json&include-notes=1&include-all-subjects=1