ever and a pleasant memento of the Great Exhibition.
The drawings are careful and clever, and convey a very correct
representation of the original creatures, with all, or nearly all, their
subtlety of expression and aspect. The capital fatuity of the Rabbits
and Hares, the delightful scoundrelism of the Fox, the cunning
shrewdness of the Marten and Weasels, the hoyden visages of the Kittens,
and the cool, slippery demeanour of the Frogs, are all capitally given.
The book may lie on the drawing-room table, or be thumbed in the
nursery; and in the latter case we have little doubt that many an urchin
still in petticoats will in future years associate his most vivid
recollection of the Great Exhibition of 1851 with Mr. Bogue's
perpetuation of the _Comical Creatures from Wurtemberg_."

[Illustration: THE WONDERFUL HARE-HUNT.]

The

COMICAL CREATURES

from

WURTEMBERG,

_Including the Story of Reynard the Fox._

With Twenty Illustrations,
Drawn from the Stuffed Animals contributed by
Herrmann Ploucquet of Stuttgart
to the Great Exhibition.

_Second Edition._

London:
DAVID BOGUE, FLEET STREET.
1851.

PREFACE.

To HERRMANN PLOUCQUET, Preserver of Objects of Natural History
at the Royal Museum of Stuttgart,--the capital of the kingdom of
Wurtemberg,--we are indebted for one of the cleverest and most popular
displays in the GREAT EXHIBITION. Every one, from her Majesty the Queen
down to the least of the charity-boys, hastens to see the Stuffed
Animals from the Zollverein; every one lingers over them and laughs at
them as long as the crowd will allow; and every one talks of them
afterwards with a smile and a pleasing recollection.

That these clever productions of Ploucquet's talent may be long
perpetuated, we have had daguerreotypes of them taken by Mr. Claudet,
and engravings made from them on wood as faithfully like as possible.

We must beg our readers to remember that, excepting "Reynard the Fox,"
our sketches have been written to illustrate the drawings, for on this
plea we claim some indulgence; but as we know full well that the
pictures will be the main attraction of the volume, we are not
apprehensive of much criticism.

The story of "Reynard the Fox" is told briefly in the words of an old
version of this wonderful tale published in England many years ago. In
Germany _Reinecke Fuchs_ is as popular as our "Jack the Giant-Killer."
Carlyle says,