Preface 



on this wise. I had been staying with my sister-in-law, Lady 

 Yarborough, and in the course of one of our numerous talks 

 about my brother Maunsell, whose death had occurred that 

 same year, I had suggested to her that the book " Gentlemen 

 Riders, Past and Present," which he had written in collaboration 

 with Mr. Finch Mason, might be read by a much larger section 

 of the public were it brought out in a cheaper form than the two- 

 guinea volume in which it had been published. 



With this idea in both our minds, one day in November, 

 191 2, the year my brother died, we called by appointment 

 on Mr. Neilson, Managing Director of Vintons, Ltd., and 

 to him we propounded our ideas as to the expediency of 

 bringing out a new and cheaper edition of " Gentlemen Riders, 

 Past and Present." 



We were answered with a straightforwardness which could 

 leave no doubt in our minds as to the publishers' opinion on 

 the matter. 



"It would be unfair," opined Mr. Neilson, " to the original 

 subscribers, and subsequent purchasers of 'Gentlemen Riders,' 

 to issue a cheaper edition of so expensive and unique a volume. 



"On the other hand," he continued, "a life of the late Mr. 

 John Maunsell Richardson would I am sure be welcomed by 

 the public — especially the sporting public — and we should have 

 much pleasure in publishing such a book." 



A glance passed between my sister-in-law and myself, and 

 reading approval in her eyes, I said at once " how much 

 pleasure it would give me to attempt the task." Mr. Neilson 

 then said that he was sure I should find a most energetic helper 

 and sympathetic coadjutor in Mr. Finch Mason, who, as joint 

 author of " Gentlemen Riders," had assisted my brother in every 

 way possible, and who he was sure would do his utmost for me 

 in the same manner. 



ix b 



