[7th Light Horse Regiment]. RICHARDSON, Lieutenant-Colonel John Dalyell

The History of the 7th Light Horse Regiment AIF. [The 7th Light Horse Regiment, 1914-1919 (cover title)]

Sydney, 'Printed and Published by Eric N. Birks, late O.C. No. 1 Sect. 5th A.M.G. Coy, Proprietor, Radcliffe Press', [1923].

Quarto, [x], 122 pages plus 35 plates and 3 maps (1 double-page).

Quarter cloth and papered boards (with the regimental colours printed on the front cover); front and rear boards a little marked; extremities slightly bumped, with light wear to the corner-tips; free endpapers discoloured; minimal signs of age and use; overall, an excellent copy.

'Subscription Edition limited to 300 copies of which this is No. 58' is printed on the half-title; needless to say, this is a fiendishly rare regimental history. A small strip of paper with the duplicate typescript message 'With The Author's Compliments' is tipped in at the head of the introduction. The front free endpaper is inscribed by the author to 'B. Moffatt | Xmas 1923 | From Col. Richardson'.

Loosely inserted in the book is an undated circular letter on the two-colour letterhead of Radcliffe Press. 'Apologies are tendered for the unavoidable delay in posting this work. As explained in the first circular it has not been a commercial venture for profit but a subscription issue at a price estimated as being within the reach of all and considerably less than the actual cost. That being the position there was no opportunity for speeding up production by increasing expenditure and each delay was due to a desire to obtain authentic information.

In short the delays have been beyond the control of both Editor and publisher and we can only hope that now the book is actually in post you will be pleased with the effort and agree that it has been worth while'.

The author was the last wartime Commanding Officer of the regiment; he was awarded the DSO at Gaza in late 1917. His preface is dated 1 November 1923, which puts a lower limit on the publication date. The introduction is by Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Chauvel.

Dornbusch 400; Fielding and O'Neill, page 232; Trigellis-Smith 278.

Item #140344

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