Taormina, with Mount Etna in the background, by Edward Lear
"Born in 1812, Edward Lear was the youngest of his mother’s 21 children, and the 13th to survive infancy.
"Throughout his life he suffered from epilepsy, often enduring several fits a day."
"Edward Lear's father, a stockbroker of Danish origins, was sent to debtor's prison when Lear was thirteen and the young Lear was forced to earn a living.
"In 1832 Edward lear was hired by the London Zoological Society to execute illustrations of birds.
"In the same year, Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby, invited Lear to reside at his estate; Lear ended up staying on until 1836."
"Where Lewis Carroll had Alice and the Liddell family, Lear had the Knowsley nursery, where the Stanley children, their friends and nursemaids, kept riotous company."
"In the early 1870s, Edward Lear eventually settled in San Remo, in Italy.
"His later years were blessed by the companionship of Giorgio Kokali, his faithful servant-cum-companion, who, among the many services he performed, helped Lear reduce his dependency on alcohol.
"Initially, when they came together, Giorgio had shocked Lear by revealing that he was married and had children, but later Lear took Giorgio's son as his servant."
