his pictures to many of Mrs. Molesworth's stories, there is
a certain unlikeness to life as we know it, which does not detract from
the effect of the design; but while this is perhaps distracting in
stories of contemporary life, it is a very real advantage in those of
folk-lore, which have no actual date, and are therefore unafraid of
anachronisms of any kind. The spirit of his work is, as it should be,
intensely serious, yet the conceits which are showered upon it exactly
harmonise with the mood of most of the stories that have attracted his
pencil. Grimm's "Household Stories," as he pictured them, are a lasting
joy. The "Bluebeard" and "Jack and the Beanstalk" toy books, the
"Princess Belle Etoile," and a dozen others are nursery classics, and
classics also of the other nursery where children of a larger growth
take their pleasure.

[Illustration: ILLUSTRATION FROM "ROBINSON CRUSOE." BY WILL PAGET.
(CASSELL AND CO.)]

Without a shade of disrespect towards all the other artists represented
in this special number, had it been devoted solely to Mr. Walter Crane's
designs, it would have been as interesting in every respect. There is
probably not a single illustrator here mentioned who would not endorse
such a statement. For as a maker of children's books, no one ever
attempted the task he fulfilled so gaily, and no one since has beaten
him on his own ground. Even Mr. Howard Pyle, his most worthy rival, has
given us no wealth of colour-prints. So that the famous toy books still
retain their well-merited position as the most delightful books for the
nursery and the studio, equally beloved by babies and artists.

[Illustration: ILLUSTRATION FROM "ENGLISH FAIRY TALES" BY J. D. BATTEN
(DAVID NUTT)]

Although a complete iconography of Mr. Walter Crane's work has not yet
been made, the following list of such of his children's books as I have
been able to trace may be worth printing for the benefit of those who
have not access to the British Museum; where, by the way, many are not
included in that section of its catalogue devoted to "Crane, Walter."

[Illustration: "SO LIGHT OF FOOT, SO LIGHT OF SPIRIT." BY CHARLES
ROBINSON]

The famous series of toy books by Walter Crane include: "The Railroad A
B C," "The Farmyard A B C," "Sing a Song of Sixpence," "The Waddling
Frog," "The Old Courtier," "Multiplication in Verse," "Chattering Jack,"
"How Jessie was Lost," "Grammar in Rhyme," "Annie and Jack in London,"
"One, Two, Buckle