NCESS." BY J. C.
HORSLEY, R.A. (JOSEPH CUNDALL. 1843)]

[Illustration:

I had a little Nut-tree,
Nothing would it bear,
But a silver nutmeg
And a golden pear.

The King of Spain's daughter, came to visit me,--
And all because of my little Nut-tree.

ILLUSTRATION FROM "CHILD'S PLAY." BY E. V. B. (NOW PUBLISHED BY SAMPSON
LOW)]

Here and there we meet with one interesting as art. "An Ancestral
History of King Arthur" (H. Roberts, Blue Boar, Holborn, 1782), shown in
the Pearson collection at South Kensington, has an admirable
frontispiece; and one or two others would be worth reproduction did
space permit.

Although the dates overlap, the next division of the subject may be
taken as ranging from the publication of "Goody Two Shoes--otherwise
called Mrs. Margaret Two-shoes"--to the "Bewick Books." Of the latter
the most interesting is unquestionably "A Pretty Book of Pictures for
Little Masters and Misses, or Tommy Trip's History of Beasts and Birds,"
with a familiar description of each in verse and prose, to which is
prefixed "A History of Little Tom Trip himself, of his dog Towler, and
of Coryleg the great giant," written for John Newbery, the philanthropic
bookseller of St. Paul's Churchyard. "The fifteenth edition embellished
with charming engravings upon wood, from the original blocks engraved by
Thomas Bewick for T. Saint of Newcastle in 1779"--to quote the full
title from the edition reprinted by Edwin Pearson in 1867. This edition
contains a preface tracing the history of the blocks, which are said to
be Bewick's first efforts to depict beasts and birds, undertaken at the
request of the New castle printer, to illustrate a new edition of
"Tommy Trip." As at this time copyright was unknown, and Newcastle or
Glasgow pirated a London success (as New York did but lately), we must
not be surprised to find that the text is said to be a reprint of a
"Newbery" publication. But as Saint was called the Newbery of the North,
possibly the Bewick edition was authorised. One or two of the rhymes
which have been attributed to Oliver Goldsmith deserve quotation.
Appended to a cut of _The Bison_ we find the following delightful lines:

"The Bison, tho' neither
Engaging nor young,
Like a flatt'rer can lick you
To death with his tongue."

The astounding legend of the bison's long tongue, with which he captures
a man