INTRODUCTION. 



This work cost Mr. Edgar years of toil, for which he was 

 never compensated. Aside from its wonderful verbosity, 

 the work is remarkable for two features the great number 

 of animals it contains, with astonishingly long pedigrees, that 

 no person has heard of before or since, and the great number 

 of distinguished animals, thoroughly interwoven in our 

 turf history, which it does not contain. Notwithstanding 

 these glaring foults, which appear to have originated in 

 prejudices and fancies, it was a great undertaking, and 

 contains much information nowhere else obtainable ; but the 

 book itself never met with the favor and confidence of the 

 public. In addition to the pedigrees gleaned from the first 

 ten volumes of the Turf Register, this compilation embraces 

 every animal in Mr. Edgar's book ; and in every instance 

 where the pedigree is taken from that book, Mr. Edgar's 

 name is appended to it. This course I have chosen as due 

 to Mr. Edgar, that whatever of merit or absurdity attaches 

 to a pedigree may be placed where it belongs. 



Where Mr. Edgar has differed from the Turf Register, my 

 rule has been to follow the latter, as all pedigrees published 

 therein were subjected to the criticisms and corrections of 

 many able pens in those days, and if they passed the ordeal 

 unscathed they might be taken as authenticated. This 

 same fact would apply with equal force to any coripilation 

 of pedigrees that might be undertaken of the present genera- 

 tion of horses. If we had any one periodical that circulated 

 among all horsemen, the chances for impositions and errors 

 would be greatly reduced, if the pedigrees were first 

 subjected to the public examination through its columns. 

 Thus we have in this volume all that has been published 

 on the pedigrees of American and imported horses up to 

 the year 1840, except what may be contained in the " Spirit 

 of the Times " previous to that year. 



