"The eighteen stories in this volume have been chosen with a thought to their educative value as well as for the intrinsic charm of the original narratives, which in various forms have delighted many generations of readers. All have a literary interest connecting them with subjects with which every educated person is supposed to be familiar...
"While you are reading this wonder-book of horses and finding entertainment in the biographies of winged steeds and war horses, of knights-errant and godlike heroes, you are really doing something more-you are making acquaintance with some of those wonderful and beautiful conceptions which in the form of classic literature have come down to us through the ages." - from the introduction by the author.