ephant's Ball," and "The Lion's Masquerade;"
and then (prompted no doubt by the success of these, for we learn on the
publisher's authority that of the two first 40,000 copies were sold
within twelve months) Mr Harris brought out a torrent of little books
of a like kind, of which the titles were: "The Lioness's Ball," "The
Lobster's Voyage to the Brazils," "The Cat's Concert," "The Fishes'
Grand Gala," "Madame Grimalkin's Party," "The Jackdaw's Home," "The
Lion's Parliament," "The Water King's Levee;" and in 1809, by which
time, naturally enough, the idea seems to have become quite threshed out
and exhausted, the last of the Series was published; this was entitled,
"The Three Wishes, or Think before you Speak."

Of this long list of books a few of the titles are still familiar, and
one of them, "The Butterfly's Ball," may certainly claim to have become
a Nursery Classic. It is still in regular demand; the edition now in
sale being illustrated by Harrison Weir; it has been published in
various forms, and has figured in most of the collections of prose and
verse for the young that have been issued during this century. Probably
to the minds of hundreds of people past middle age few lines are more
familiar than the opening couplet--

"Come take up your hats, and away let us haste
To the Butterfly's Ball and Grasshopper's Feast"--

and many no doubt by a little effort of memory could repeat
the whole poem.

Hardly less famous were the three books which next followed in order
of issue--"The Peacock at Home," "The Elephant's Ball," and "The Lion's
Masquerade." Their original size was 5 by 4 inches, and they were issued
in a simple printed paper wrapper. It is of these first four books that
the reprint is here given, and in order to present both pictures and
text with greater effect this reprint has been made upon considerably
larger paper; the text and illustrations are fac-simile reproductions
of originals from the celebrated Flaxman collection recently dispersed
at a sale by Messrs Christie, Manson, & Woods, when Mr Tuer, to whom
I am indebted for their loan, became their fortunate possessor. "The
Butterfly's Ball" is not a reproduction of the first edition, which, as
will be shown later on, would be considered by those who are familiar
with the poem as incomplete. Moreover, the illustrations in the edition
here presented are obviously by the same hand as that which embellished
the other three books, and it was fe