Among all lovers of sport the name of Nat Gould has become a household word. As sportsman, journalist, and globe-trotter, few men have gone through more varied experiences, and still fewer have used their experience to such excellent purpose. Since Whyte Melville and the immortal "Jorrocks" no writer has depicted with so spirited a pen the romance of a racecourse, the surprises of the cricket-pitch, or the hairbreadth escapes of the hunting-field. Writing in Longman's Magazine, Mr. Andrew Lang said: "A Sixpenny Academy would be a lively Academy. For President, I would, if consulted, select Mr. Nat Gould, who shines by a candid simplicity of style, and a direct and unaffected appeal to the primitive emotions, and our love for that noble animal the horse."
Nation, 9th August, 1919:—"In the way of sale, his wares surpassed all others. To millions they were the breath of mental life. We have heard that a newspaper purchasing the serial rights of one of his stories could promise itself an increased circulation of 100,000 a day, no matter what its politics or its principles."
The Times, 26th July, 1917:—"Of Mr. Nat Gould's novels more than Ten Million[3] copies have been sold; and when this can be said of an author there must be qualities in his work which appeal to human nature—qualities, therefore, which even the most superior person would do well to recognise. 'A Northern Crack' is one of those tales which set you down in an arm-chair and keep you there till it is pleased to stop."
The Times, 26th July, 1919:—"If art in any sphere in life finds a basis in the pleasing of a multitude, then Nat Gould was an artist with few above his shoulders."
Morning Post, 26th July, 1919:—"He was the most widely read of all modern story-tellers, and a genius in his downright way."
AthenÆum, June 10th, 1911:—"All living writers are headed by Mr. Nat Gould, and of the great of the past, Dumas only surpasses his popularity."
Truth, January 22nd, 1913:—"Who is the most popular of living novelists? Mr. Nat Gould easily and indisputably takes the first place."
Miss Beatrice Harraden, one of the Honorary Librarians to the Military Hospital, Endell Street, London, writing in the November, 1916, issue of the Cornhill Magazine, states: "We had to invest in any amount of Nat Gould's sporting stories. In fact, a certain type of man would read nothing except Nat Gould. However ill he was, however suffering and broken, the name of Nat Gould would always bring a smile to his face. Often and often I've heard the whispered words: 'A Nat Gould—ready for when I'm better.'"
