The 1808 second edition of William Roscoe's book The Butterfly's Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast was given new illustrations, more realistic than those from the 1807 version, and several additional lines of poetry. Considered the definitive version, the 1808 book was well-loved and inspired a large number of sequels and imitations. From among these, the 1810 The Butterfly's Birth-Day, with its dramatic and memorable illustrations, has been chosen for this volume. The text of both books has been carefully retyped to match the original, with the spelling, capitalization, and punctuation intact. The pictures, originally on separate pages, have been inserted into the text, and blank pages have been removed. The title page from the 1808 book has been replaced by one from its 1883 reprint, since the 1808 edition included a separate poem that was not selected for reprinting. Butterfly and grasshopper engravings from the original cover of The Butterfly's Ball have been used throughout as page decorations. The result is a charming taste of early 1800s children's literature, intended for anyone who enjoys reading very old books. Note: Inconsistent and apparently incorrect spelling, etc. is because of this book's age. The text has been reproduced as closely as possible to the original, as a historical curiosity. In other words, the typos are intentional.
