Richard Henry Collins, whom Mr. James Lane Allen has happily
christened "the Kentucky Froissart," was born at Maysville, Kentucky,
May 4, 1824, over the office of _The Eagle_. He was the son of Lewis
Collins (1797-1870), who published a history of Kentucky in 1847.
Richard H. Collins was a Cincinnati lawyer for eleven years, but he
lived many years at Maysville, where he edited the old _Eagle_, which
his father had made famous. In 1861 he founded the _Danville Review_;
and in 1874 he published a "revised, enlarged four-fold, and brought
down to the year 1874" edition, in two enormous volumes, of his
father's history of Kentucky. Unquestionably this is a work of
tremendous importance, the most magnificent and elaborate history of
this or any other State yet compiled. Traveling the whole State over,
obtaining contributions from each town's ablest writer, and then
building them upon his father's fine foundation, Collins was able to
publish an almost invaluable work. To-day his history of Kentucky,
though it certainly contains many errors of various kinds and degrees,
is the greatest mine of our State's history which all must explore if
they would be informed of our people's past. Dean Shaler and all later
Kentucky historical writers have taken pleasure in paying tribute to
his work. The one mistake that Collins made, which might have been
easily avoided, was to put his manuscripts together in such a manner
that the authorship of the various papers cannot be determined; but in
this he followed his father's methods; and for this reason the writer
has been compelled to reproduce the prefaces of both books, rather
than portions of the actual text, for fear he may use matter prepared
by a contributor. Collins practiced law in different Kentucky towns,
wrote for newspapers and magazines, and spent a very busy and rather
active life. He died at the home of his daughter at Maryville,
Missouri, on New Year's Day of 1888.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. _History of Kentucky_, by Z. F. Smith (Louisville,
1892); _The Blue Grass Region of Kentucky_, by James Lane Allen
(New York, 1892).