136 



The Chase 



R. S. Surtees 



^c^ o *o 



MR. SURTEES was a modest and taciturn 

 man ; we know little of his private life, but 

 he undoubtedly, as " Charley Stubbs," sat for his own 

 portrait in his novel of Handley Cross. His books 

 are probably in greater demand and more read at 

 the present time than any other writer in the same 

 field. His first essays on hunting were written in 

 the old Sporting Magazine^ and at one time he 

 edited The New Sporting Magazine in conjunction 

 with Mr. Rudolph Ackerman. 



Later, by his father's death Surtees came into a 

 considerable country estate, was made a J. P., and 

 was High Sheriff of Durham in 1856. By that 

 time he had relinquished sporting journalism and 

 turned his attention to fiction. His first book, 

 Hillingdon Hall^ is not very well known and was 

 not a great success ; Handley Cross established 

 beyond all doubt his fame as a sporting novelist. 

 Many other books from his pen followed which are 

 read and appreciated by sportsmen all over the 

 world. 



Surtees owed a great debt to the wonderful 

 illustrations of John Leech, one of the greatest 

 humorists of his century, and first editions of his 

 best novels are in great request among collectors of 

 sporting books. 



Samuel "J, Looker. 



George John Whyte-Melville (i 821-1878) 



I HAVE always contended that his riding and 

 hunting abilities were equal to his literary 

 abilities. This opinion has often been contradicted 

 by people who do not understand Whyte-Melville's 



