“The main property of a jester can probably be described as follows: wind in the head. The wind that completely blows away sanity, tears things out of place and mixes them up at random, mixes wisdom with stupidity, turns everything upside down and changes the boring routine of everyday life. Without such an eternal draft, the art of fooling around and cheerful quackery is impossible. Such a wind was blowing in the head of Edward Lear (1812–1888)—the great King of Nonsense, the incomparable Genius of the Absurd, and the Supreme Whisperer of England (these are just some of the great titles he earned). Of course, he descended in a direct line from John Skelton and William Sommers, the jester of Henry VIII, from Shakespeare’s famous fools - scoffers and mockers, inexhaustible in inventions and puns, but capable of unexpectedly touching the heart with a piercingly sad song to the accompaniment of a lute. Lear also composed and sang songs - both touching and funny. In essence, he was a jester, if you forget about the lyrical side of his talent, about serious hard work and perseverance, about the tragic background of his fate...”