The Book of Nonsense by Edward Lear In 1846 Lear published A Book of
Nonsense, a volume of limericks that went through three editions and
helped popularize the form and the genre of literary nonsense. In 1871
he published Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany and Alphabets, which
included his most famous nonsense song, The Owl and the Pussycat, which
he wrote for the children of his patron Edward Stanley, 13th Earl of
Derby. Many other works followed.