prosperity;
his name became a household word in England, and was hardly less well
known to the little colonials of America.

Newbery's literary associations, too, were both numerous and important.
Before Oliver Goldsmith began to write for children, he is thought to
have contributed articles for Newbery's "Literary Magazine" about
seventeen hundred and fifty-eight, while Johnson's celebrated "Idler"
was first printed in a weekly journal started by the publisher about the
same time. For the "British Magazine" Newbery engaged Smollett as
editor. In this periodical appeared Goldsmith's "History of Miss
Stanton." When later this was published as "The Vicar of Wakefield," it
contained a characterization of the bookseller as a good-natured man
with red, pimpled face, "who was no sooner alighted than he was in haste
to be gone, for he was ever on business of the utmost importance, and he
was at that time actually compiling materials for the history of Mr.
Thomas Trip."[52-A] With such an acquaintance it is probable that
Newbery often turned to Goldsmith, Giles Jones, and Tobias Smollett for
assistance in writing or abridging the various children's tales; even
the pompous Dr. Johnson is said to have had a hand in their
production--since he expressed a wish to do so. Newbery himself,
however, assumed the responsibility as well as the credit of so many
little "Histories," that it is exceedingly difficult to fix upon the
real authors of some of the best-known volumes in the publisher's
juvenile library.

The histories of "Goody Two-Shoes" and "Tommy Trip" (once such nursery
favorites, and now almost, if not quite, forgotten) have been attributed
to various men; but according to Mr. Pearson in "Banbury Chap-Books,"
Goldsmith confessed to writing both. Certainly, his sly wit and quizzical
vein of humor seem to pervade "Goody Two-Shoes"--often ascribed to Giles
Jones--and the notes affixed to the rhymes of Mother Goose before she
became Americanized. Again his skill is seen in the adaptation of
"Wonders of Nature and Art" for juvenile admirers; and for "Fables in
Verse" he is generally considered responsible. As all these tales were
printed in the colonies or in the young Republic, their peculiarities and
particularities may be better described when dealing with the issues of
the American press.

John Newbery, the most illustrious of publishers in the eyes of the
old-fashioned child, died in 1767, at the comparatively early age o