Drawing of the Day: “O was an Oyster,” c. 1880

O was an Oyster
Lear, 1880
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Poet, author, artist and illustrator Edward Lear is best remembered for his “nonsense” literature including his celebrated “The Owl and the Pussycat,” and his lesser-known but equally delightful “Nonsense Alphabet.”

Here, we have an original drawing by Lear which was a study for a page in his “Nonsense Alphabet.” Dating to about 1880, the page is inscribed:

O was an oyster
Who lived by the sea
And he opened his mouth
As wide as could be.