Excerpt from Thoughts on Hunting: In a Series of Familiar Letters HE year 1911, marking as it does the centenary of the death of the author, seems appropriate for publication of a new edition of Thoughts on Hunting. What Izaak Walton is to angling, that Peter Beckford is to fox hunting; each is the father of the literature of his sport; but with this difference, that whereas Walton as an instructor has long since been rele gated to honourable retirement, Beckford retains his place as head mas ter and will retain it so long as fox-hunting continues. The reason lies on the surface; Beckford knew his subject from the bottom and was above all things thorough; he seems always to have kept a huntsman, but he himself was a perfect master of all that pertained to hounds whether in the field or in kennel, and had occasion required could have discharged the duty of kennel huntsman or of feeder with complete knowledge of its minutiae. A man much above the average in ability, intelligence and power of observation, he made a study of fox-hunting in its every aspect and his Thoughts were penned only after many years of experience. Various changes have come over the sport during the hundred and thirty years which have passed since his book first saw the light; but its essentials remain the same, hence the permanent value of Beckford's work. It is hardly too much to say that the Thoughts are unique even as they were the first word on their subject, so they are like to be, in a sense, the last, for in each of the numberless works since written on fox-hunting, acknow ledgment of Beckford is to be found. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.