Fly Fisher Journal of the American Museum of Fly Fishing
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The American Fly Fisher Journal of the American Museum of Fly Fishing FALL 2000 VOLUME 26 NUMBER 4 Time Flies Arhor-Hoch T ' s M I D -AU G u s T as I write this, and for once I don't have the ouvortunitvL L to revrint some of the articles from that series. to imagine what fall feels like-today it's here. The tempera- and I intend to do so from time to time. In this issue, we're Itures have dropped, and this morning it feels like late pleased to include "Fly Lines and Lineage." Betts argues that September. As I prepare for a canoe camping trip, I wonder if the evolution of the forms of dry and wet flies is a direct I'll be warm enough. This Vermont summer couldn't have been response to changes in tackle. As fly line changed, the rods more different from the one our western readers had. needed to cast the line changed, and new casting techniques So fall is here, and in keeping with the anticipation that had to be learned: all of which meant that flies cast such a dis- tends to accompany that initial chill in the air, this issue brings tance had to be designed to either float on their own or to sink you news of some of the exciting happenings at the Museum appropriately. Betts focuses the bulk of his discussion on fly over the last year. After months of preparation, our traveling line and wet flies. His article begins on page 17. exhibit, "Anglers All,'' is now on display at the Museum of the In March 2000, the Flyfisher's Classic Library (Devon, Rockies in Bozeman, Montana. Several staff members took England) published a new reprint edition of William Samuel's photos during preparation and installation. We've shared a few The Arte of Angling. To honor the occasion, Frederick Buller of these with you, starting on page lo. takes the opportunity to provide us with some history of the And some news that is causing quite a stir among fly-fishing second earliest book on angling written in the English lan- historians: the discovery in our collection of what may be guage. He retells the story of how authorship was determined among the oldest flies in existence. While preparing for when the sole surviving copy was missing its title page, gives us "Anglers All," staff discovered an assortment of flies in a pair of detail into the author's life. and in varticular. sheds historical three-ring binders, dating as far back as 1789. Originally orga- light on the only two illustrations included in the volume. His nized by J. R. Harris during research for his 1952 book An article. "Sidelights" and Reflections on William Samuel's The Angler's Entomology, a number of the flies are older than the Arte of Angling (1577):' begins on page 2. first color illustrations of flies (1816). More than three-quarters And that, my friends, is what you'll find in these fall pages. of them have accompanying documentation. Sara Wilcox tells As happens at the end of every summer, Little Long Pond and the story in our Gallery piece, "A Century of Flies," on page 15. the Ausable are calling my name-the time has come to put "First Impressions of the Harris Flies," a piece by historian and this issue to bed and head west before the loons take off for former registrar Ken Cameron, follows on page 16. Ken and his their wintering grounds. son Christian visited the Museum in July to study the flies. KATHLEENACHOR John Betts-longtime Museum friend who for several years wrote a regular feature in Fly Tyer magazine-has offered us Preserving the Heritage Flv Fisher of Fly Fishing Journal of dthe American Museum of Fly Fishing FALL 2000 VOLUME 26 NUMBER 4 TRUSTEES E. M. Bakwin John Mundt Michael Bakwin Wayne Nordberg Sidelights and Reflections on William Samuel's Foster Bam Michael B. Osborne Paul Bofinger Leigh H. Perkins The Arte of Angling (1577) ....................2 Donn Byrne Sr. Allan K. Poole Frederick Buller James H. Carey Robert D. Priest Roy D. Chapin Jr. John Rano Anglers All: Humanity in Midstream 10 Peter Corbin Roger Riccardi ............ Thomas N. Davidson Pamela B. Richards William J. Dreyer Ernest Schwiebert Gallery: A Century of Flies ...................15 Charles Ferree Robert G. Scott Sara Wilcox Duncan Grant James A. Spendiff Gardner L. Grant John Swan First Impressions of the Harris Flies .............16 Arthur Kaemmer, M.D. Richard G. Tisch Woods King I11 David H. Walsh Ken Cameron Walter T. Matia Richard J. Warren James C. Woods Fly Lines and Lineage. ......................17 John Betts TRUSTEES EMERITI 22 G. Dick Finlay David B. Ledlie Museum News .......................... W. Michael Fitzgerald Leon L. Martuch William Herrick Keith C. Russell Contributors ...........................27 Robert N. Johnson Paul Schullery Stephen Slodn o N THE c ov E R: These flies from 1789 were recently discovered in the Museum's collection. Their receipt, which is also pictured, makes them the OFFICERS oldest documented flies in the world. See related stories on pages 15 and 16. President Robert G. Scott Vice Presidents Pamela B. Richards James A. Spendiff David H. Walsh Treasurer James H. Carey The Amenciin Fly Fisher i\ publtahed Secretary James C. Woods four tlmes a year by Lhe Museum at PO.Box 42, Manchester, Vermont 05254. Publlcatlon dates arc wlnter, spring, summer, and fall. Membership dues lnrludc thc cost of the ~uurnal($30) and are tax deductible as provided for by laiv Melnbcrship rates are Ilsted in the back of each Issue STAFF All letlers, manuscripts, photographs, and materials intended Tor puhllcation m thc Journal should be sent to IExecutive Director Gary Tanner the Museum. Thc Museum and journal air not responslblc for unsal~citcd manuscripts, drawings, photographic material, or memorabilia. The Museum cannot accept respoiisihilily Tor statements and interpretation? thdt are Events &Membership Diana Siebold wholly the .iuthar's. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot be returned unlcss pastage is provided. Contributlans to The Art Director John Price American Fly F~sherare to be ronsldcrcd gratuitous and the prnperty of the Museum unless otherwise requested Special Projects Sara Wilcox by the cantilbutor. Articles appearing in this journal are abstracted and indcaed in Htsloriiiil Abstracti and America: Admin./Advertising Toney Pozek History and Life. Coyynght 0 2000, thc Ainerican Museum of Fly Flshlng, Maiichcstcr, Vermont 05254. Origmal nlaterial appearing may not be rrprlnted w~thoutprror permlsslon. Second Class Permit postage pad ,it Collection Manager Yoshi Akiyama Manchester, Vermont 05254 and additional offices (LISPS 057410). The Anlericnn Fly Fzshri- (ISSN 0884-3562) 130siMAsrhn:Send address changes in The Arrieiican Fly F~sher,YO. Box 42, Manchrster,Veimunt oj254. THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER LMAIL:.imff@togethernet w~ssir~:www.amff.com Editor Kathleen Achor Design B Production John Price Copy Editor Sarah May Clarkson Sidelights and Reflections on William Samuel's The Arte of Angling (1577) by Frederick Buller Figure I. This is a view of the twelfih-century church of St. Mary's in Godmanchester where the author of The Arte of Angling preached. The river Ouse runs within sixty yards of the church boundary--very handy for a vicar who was also an angler. No list of vicars is on view in St. Mary's, as there open is in old English churches, but one was printed in Philip Dickenson's A Little History of St. Mary's Church, Godmanchester (1942). In his list, some eighty vicars are named from the year 1210 to the most recent appointment in 1992. Photograph by Frederick Buller. RI N T E D IN 15 77, The Arte of Angling is the second ear- text it was stated that the book was "Imprinted at London in liest book on angling in the English language. Fleetestreate at the Sign of the Faulcon by Henrie Middleton PRemarkably, only one copy has survived, but it is incom- . .Anno 1577." plete: its first three (or more) leaves, presumably including a The story of how this little book found its way to America title page, had been cut out. In 1953, the late Edgar Chalmers by way of its purchaser Carl Otto von Keinbusch, and finally to Hallam, a dealer in angling and other books on field sports, its home in the Princeton University Library, is a fascinating bought this imperfect copy from Ted Lowe, of the one that has been well told in the three facsimile reprint edi- Birmingham (England) bookdealers Lowe Brothers. tions (1956 and 1958 by the Princeton University Library, and According to Lowe, it had come from a minor house sale March 2000 by the Flyfisher's Classic Library; these "reprints" somewhere in the West Midlands. are editions, really, because the preliminaries are different). The next year, Hallam took the book to the British Museum This last reprint edition includes an extremely informative and Library (now the British Library) where D. E. Rhodes, deputy detailed preface by R. J.W. Coleby, an antiquarian book dealer. keeper in humanities and social sciences, established its Coleby's preface retells the remarkable story of how, after authenticity before writing a bibliographical note about it that years of speculation, the name of the author was eventually was published in the museum's journal, The Library, in 1955.' discovered. It is a story of serendipity-of a trained historian The identity of the author of The Arte of Angling was not evi- discovering something of great importance to angling while he dent from this copy, and it was not known whether it was given was researching other matters. The mystery was solved by in the missing preliminary leaves.