Walk on a windy day, 1860

HE WROTE OF an owl and a pussycat sailing away in a pea-green boat, was a master of the limerick, and revelled in nonsense, and in 1860 Edward Lear sketched this charming cartoon strip about the perils of walking on a windy day. Its main character, E.L., is warned of the dangers, but out he goes and is soon carried off, flying with the geese in this fifth panel, before being ‘teetotallaciously blown away’ until he’s just a dot in the corner of the last picture. Although best remembered for his verbal invention, Lear was also a skilled painter of landscapes, and of birds.

He was one of the first to paint live animals, instead of taxidermied skins, and he published an exquisite book of parrot illustrations (see right) when he was just 20. Find the full story of Lear’s breezy stroll at publicdomainreview. org and turn to page 46 for more on the joys of walks in wind – and mud, rain, cold...