er, of
near two hundred by bulk. It is bound in a quiet green with the words in
thin gilt. Its shape is a slender, tall octavo. And it sells for the
publisher's fancy, and it will be a darling to look at; in short, it
would be like one of the original Heine books in type and spacing.

Now for the pictures. I take another sheet and begin to jot notes for
them when my imagination serves: I will run through the book, writing
when I have an idea. There, I have jotted enough to give the artist a
notion. Of course, I don't do more than contribute ideas, but I will be
happy to help in any and every way. I may as well add another idea; when
the artist finds nothing much to illustrate, a good drawing of any
_object_ mentioned in the text, were it only a loaf of bread or a
candlestick, is a most delightful thing to a young child. I remember
this keenly.

Of course, if the artist insists on a larger form, I must, I suppose,
bow my head. But my idea I am convinced is the best, and would make the
book truly, not fashionably pretty.

I forgot to mention that I shall have a dedication; I am going to
dedicate 'em to Cummy; it will please her, and lighten a little my
burthen of ingratitude. A low affair is the Muse business.

I will add no more to this lest you should want to communicate with the
artist; try another sheet. I wonder how many I'll keep wandering to.

O I forgot. As for the title, I think "Nursery Verses" the best. Poetry
is not the strong point of the text, and I shrink from any title that
might seem to claim that quality; otherwise we might have "Nursery
Muses" or "New Songs of Innocence" (but that were a blasphemy), or
"Rimes of Innocence": the last not bad, or--an idea--"The Jews' Harp,"
or--now I have it--"The Penny Whistle."

THE PENNY WHISTLE

NURSERY VERSES

BY
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

ILLUSTRATED BY ---- ---- ----

And here we have an excellent frontispiece, of a party playing on a P.
W. to a little ring of dancing children.

THE PENNY WHISTLE
is the name for me.

Fool! this is all wrong, here is the true name:--

PENNY WHISTLES
FOR SMALL WHISTLERS.

The second title is queried, it is perhaps better, as simply PENNY
WHISTLES.

Nor you, O Penny Whistler, grudge
That I your instrument debase:
By worse performers still we judge,
And give that fife a second place!

Crossed penny whistles on the cover, or else a sh