Back in the day, Hutchinson’s Popular and Illustrated Encyclopedia published by Walter Hutchinson was a “go-to” reference for all things dog. It had begun earlier in the 1930s as a weekly publication, and eventually, there were fifty-six parts which were bound into three volumes and sold as a set of three in 1935.

Happily,  few breed sections are now in PDFs. Greyhound people will want to visit here, Saluki fanciers here, Samoyed folks here (click on “download PDF File”),  and Chow Chow owners here.

A section we did not see but read about had to do with English Foxhounds. Evidently, the encyclopedia described the breed as having the following varieties: ‘The White [Foxhound] was used mostly for stag hunting. The Fallow – was used for hunting all sorts of quarry, principally the stag (ed. note: It’s possible this hound was named for the European fallow deer,  known more commonly as the fallow deer, a popular quarry for the now extinct Buckhound, as well). The Dunn – the commonest breed, and would hunt any game. The Black or St. Hubert- forbearer of the Bloodhound and Southern Hound.”

The encyclopedia is widely available on the Internet, and shoppers are advised to do their homework because we saw prices range between a few hundred dollars to as low as thirty dollars. Conditions of the book varies, of course, but it seems like a nice addition to a dog lover’s library.

As an aside, back in 2008, these hounds missed the memo about hunting deer. 

Image: Fox Hounds by Henry Thomas Alken (1785 – 1851) is available as a print here