Edward Lear
(1812–1888)
Parakeet in Flight
Watercolor, over some pencil, on wove paper
7 x 9 1/8 inches (178 x 234 mm)
Gift of Mrs. Vincent Astor
1977.23
Item description:
By the time Lear was nineteen he was working on Illustrations of the Family of the Psittacidae, or Parrots, which was financed by subscribers. A letter in the Library's collection relates how, in order to attract more subscribers, Lear limited the work by making 175 impressions from each drawing and destroying the stones. While not a direct study for Lear's book, the markings of the bird appear to be identical with those of the undulated parakeet, plate 13 of this work.