The edition above mentioned by W. H. Whitmore, gives its history of the English and American Mother Goose. The collection was first made for and by John Newbery of London, about A.D. 1760. Its popularity was due to the Boston editions of Monroe & Francis, A.D. 1824–1860.
The first rhyme in these editions was styled “A Love Song”:
“There was a little man,
Who wooed a little maid;
And he said, ‘Little maid,
Will you wed, wed, wed?’”
Mr. Whitmore examines the claim made for the first time in 1856 that the origin of these melodies was due to Mrs. Elizabeth Goose, or Vergoose, of Boston, and that her son-in-law, Thomas Fleet, published a volume containing them in 1719, and pronounces the claim without foundation.
APPENDIX B
Bluebeard Stories
The story of Bluebeard has permeated modern literature. Reference is made to some of its publications.
It appeared as a comedy with three acts, under the name of Barbe-Bleue. The music was by Grétry, and it was presented for the first time at Paris in the Théâtre des Italiens in 1789.