The Cretan Journal

“… This journal of his travels through the island – now published for the first time – is a detailed and sometimes minute-by-minute commentary on the landscape of Crete and a record of the ups and downs, physical and mental, of an artist travelling on food over difficult terrain, written in Lear’s own inimitable style.
As this text is from the original diary and not an emended and ‘polished’ version prepared by Lear himself for publication, it possesses a spontaneous and uncensored quality that is often missing from his other travel books. Similarly, the majority of he original drawings as reproduced in this book, which were not intended for publication or sale, have a lightness and freshness that collectors have increasingly begun to value.
Together with Rowena Fowler’s introduction and comprehensive notes, the journal give us a delightful personal glimpse of Edward Lear the man, his world, and 19th century Crete, then still under Turkish rule.”