amused, the
imagination of poets and artists addressed itself at last to the most
appreciative of all audiences, a world of newcomers, with insatiable
appetites for wonders real and imaginary.

[Illustration: ILLUSTRATION (REDUCED) FROM "MISUNDERSTOOD" BY GEORGE DU
MAURIER (RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON. 1874)]

But for many years before the Victorian period folklore was left to the
peasants, or at least kept out of reach of children of the higher
classes. No doubt old nurses prattled it to their charges, perhaps
weak-minded mothers occasionally repeated the ancient legends, but the
printing-press set its face against fancy, and offered facts in its
stead. In the list of sixty-two books before mentioned, if we except a
few nursery jingles such as "Mother Hubbard" and "Cock Robin," we find
but two real fairy stories, "Cinderella," "Puss-in-Boots," and three
old-world narratives of adventure, "Whittington and His Cat," "The Seven
Champions of Christendom," and "Valentine and Orson." The rest are
"Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation,"
"The Monthly Monitor," "Tommy Trip's Museum of Beasts," "The
Perambulations of a Mouse," and so on, with a few things like "The House
that Jack Built," and "A, Apple Pie," that are but daily facts put into
story shape. Now it is clear that the artists inspired by fifty of these
had no chance of displaying their imagination, and every opportunity of
pointing a moral; and it is painful to be obliged to own that they
succeeded beyond belief in their efforts to be dull. Of like sort are "A
Visit to the Bazaar" (Harris, 1814), and "The Dandies' Ball" (1820).

[Illustration: ILLUSTRATION FROM "THE PRINCESS AND THE GOBLIN."
(STRAHAN. 1871. NOW PUBLISHED BY BLACKIE AND SON)]

Nor must we forget a work very popular at this period, "Keeper in
Search of His Master," although its illustrations are not its chief
point.

According to a very interesting preface Mr. Andrew Tuer contributed to
"The Leadenhall Series of Reprints of Forgotten Books for Children in
1813," "Dame Wiggins of Lee" was first issued by A. K. Newman and Co. of
the Minerva Press. This book is perhaps better known than any of its
date owing to Mr. Ruskin's reprint with additional verses by himself,
and new designs by Miss Kate Greenaway supplementing the original cuts,
which were re-engraved in facsimile by Mr. Hooper. Mr. Tuer attributes
the design of these latter to R. Stennet (or Sinnet?), who illustr