20 partially coloured illustrations by E.T. Reed. First edition. Oblong 4to., original cloth-backed white pictorial glazed boards, rather soiled and chafed at extremities. London, Edward Arnold. [1898]
Douglas foolishly sold the copyright of "Tails with a Twist" to Arnold for £50. "Never on your life part with a copyright", Bernard Shaw told him years later, "always hold on to it and license publication of performance". The book had a considerable success, although the author was often accused of having plagiarised Belloc's "The Bad Child's Book of Beasts", which had appeared in 1896. Most of Douglas's rhymes, though, had been written at least two years before Belloc's and were widely known and quoted at Oxford where Belloc and Douglas were contemporaries. "The Belgian Hare" reveals his hand in the "Tail" of "The Eagle": "The Eagle is a fearful bird,/ He takes your eye without a word./ And when you're lying in your bed,/ He whets his talons on your head./ And if you move or scream or start,/ He drives his beak into your heart./ To cause pain is his only care;/ How different from the Belgian hare!"
