Lives in Cricket No 26 - HV Hesketh-Prichard

65 In October 1904 the first collection of Don Q stories, The Chronicles of Don Q , was published in Britain by Chapman and Hall, and at the same time by Lippincott in the USA, at $1.50, where it was noticed in a fullish review in the New York Times . Also this year A Modern Mercenary appeared in a Newnes sixpenny edition. At some point in 1904 he had his portrait painted by Chevallier Taylor – according to Kate, it was commissioned by MCC. The artist later produced a copy, which is still in the possession of the family. Taylor produced a set of lithographs of The Empire’s Cricketers , which were published in weekly parts by the Fine Art Society from 1905, Hex’s picture being part of the fourth series, which brought the total to 48. Oddly enough the notes to these were produced by G.W.Beldam, more often known for producing artwork than text. Stanley Wood based a caricature of Hex on Taylor’s portrait and Kate thought this caught him ‘to the life’. Jeremy Malies suggests that by this time ‘his writing had made him a wealthy man’, 33 and certainly by now he was able to finance his own hunting trips. After this came another adventure, as Hex was to join Lord Brackley’s private tour in the West Indies. He was not there at the start – Kate says ‘he had to remain to finish some work and business’ – but caught up with the side in Barbados. * * * * * * * 33 Jeremy Malies, Great Characters from Cricket’s Golden Age , Robson Books, 2000, p.132. One of the Gentlemen The sinister Don Q, the Prichards’ best-known fictional character, as drawn by Stanley L.Wood.