Volume 12. Number 1a WINTER 1985 How're We Doin'?
No, we have not decided to run understanding of our angling heritage. tioned earlirr, we are particularly in ncaed for the office of mayor of New From our myopic and subjectively biased of articles on fly-tying and fish culture. York City, nor is Ed Koch con- perspective, we see some obvious ornis- Antl certainly .sonzeo~zrout there among tributing to this issue of the sions: namely, articles on the develop- our mrmbership must have .somrthi?z,qto American Fly Fisher. What we'd ment of fly patterns and fly-tying tech- contribute on the history of fly-fishing like to know is exactly what you niques, articles on western and midwest- wrst of the Mississipl~i.Wc look forwartl think of your publication, now ern angling, and articles relating to to hearing from that the new editors havea full year under American fish culture. Rut there must be you and wish you their belts. We've tried to keep things bal- others. Let us know. How're we doin' in the very best for anced by offering a full range of articles terms of content, direction, style, etc.? the new year. . ".- dealing with the tackle, the publications, We also invite our readers lo submit the people, etc., that are pertinent to an manuscripts for publication. As we men- Americanme Fly Fisher WINTER 1985 Volume 12 Number 1
On the cozler (left to right): Strmatz Yamakawa, Shige Nagai, and Miss Sharp. Yamakawa and Nagai urere students at Vmsar College when this photograph was taken (circa 1880); Sharp was either a fellow student or a young in.rtructor. The two Japanese women, close friends of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Lanman (see the American Fly Fisher, 7101. 11, no. 3), were part of a group of young women sent to this country by Japan-for the purpose of obtaining a western education-shortly after the United States established 'TRITSI'EES diplomatic relations with that country. Perhaps it was Charles Josrpli Spwt Rc( k EIlio~I.i\kjn Lanman who introduced them to the sport of angling. rirn Rrdford Nlr-k I.yonr Paul Rol~risr~ 1:tn D. M:N k;ry Photo by Vail (Poughkeepsie) St;ml~'vE. Ryql;rn 1.cnn I.. Marlu(11 Rr,brrl R. Burkrn:r\lrr W. Fl;trri\nn Mrhn. M.D Dan Ci~ll;tgh;tn Chrl A. Nav:~rtt. Jr. Roy D. Chapin Jr. Michacl 0wt.n The American Turf Register Christophrr Cook I.ci~1111. Prrkiri5 C:h;ll-lrs R. Eichrl R<~niiPrrki~ir & Sporting Magazine ...... 2 John Eustir-I, Willard F. Rnckwrll Jr. C;. D~rkFinl.ty .rhrmdorr Rog,w\ki 7.V. Mirhac,l F~trgcral Copy Edilor Copyright 1985. The American Museum of Fly Fishing. Manchester, Vermont 05254. Diana M. Morlry Original material appearing may not be reprinted withoul prior permission. OjJsrt Prrparatlon and l'rintitr,~ Lane Prrss. Burlingron. Vrrnmonr The American Turf Register John Stuart Shinner, in his first issue of the American TurfRegis- ter and Sporting Magazine(rlo1. I. no. 1, September IR29), speaks eloquently to the reasons for e.stabli.s/r ing America's f irst sport- ing periodical. r. I Itr 7e~~111(11 (I ~r/~o.siloryill 1lti.s r.orc~rlry.lilit, tlrr El~glishSpol.tin~ M;tg;~~illc-.10 .sr171~ n.s (111 nrrlhr~~lic. rrc.orrl of llrr /~(~rfor~~rn?tcr.sn11(1 j)(~li,qr(,(,,sof 1 /I(,l~rctcl Ilor.~r, 711 111 11r (t(lt~ri~/(,(l1)y (111, ~c~lt~~llt~~rl~r(~e(ler.s, oze~~t(~r.s,or (IIII(I~(~II~.S of //lot atlr~~ir- cr11lc cori~~tnl.7'11~ lo~r,qr~rzcie ro~rcri~t zc~illrortl .srrc.lr n r~gi?;lor,lltc~ lliorc di~fic.~illzclill il br lo lrctcr lltr prrli- ,qroc.s of r~si.s!i~t~.sloc.k. (111rlt /I(, IIIOTP pr~c,ctriori.szclill ils 7~nl11rI)C(,OIIIP. 1.0 11 rtol, it1 f(u.1, zc~ill~i~rlltr k~rozci- Irr/,qc of 111nrryrrnr1cr.s. 1 Irnl n1ri~nn1.s k1107e111 lo Itn-ilr tle.sc.ordrd fror~r cotc~r.slry of 1 lr r It 1,qhetl cord /xiretl blootl, Irn~lrBrrr~ r~o~tfolorrlrd 7oil11 tltr 7111 1,qnr r~rn.s.sof tlrrir .s/3o(,it,.s,I]?) llrr 1o.s~of ri~r oltl ?tctcl.s/~nf~~ror III(>IIIO~~I~(/!LIT~book, 1 Itttt co~rt(~i~~- rd tltrir /~rdigi-re.s?SCIIS~~IP for yrrtr.s /)a.sI of llrr dn~r,qrrzcllr ic.11 irr llr i.y 7crny 1lrrcnlr~1r.s/1ro/?orl?1 of .so III 1rr.11?~crlrrr, nlrd /~(~r.slind~~I111nl if i.v 11ot yrl 100 I(l1~lo cOll~f.1t11ld.s(17'r I)I(I~I~prcr.iolc,s 111rrrrrirt1.srl~ctl -ie~oirld .SOO?l br olIl~r7c~i.s~10.~1. 111~ .s11/1- ,s(,riI)rr 1roI)r.s 10 .sII/)/I/~1110 1otr.q /oolir,d /or tlrsitlrt~a~~~~~i,by lltc, r.s~nbli.slrr~rr~rtof .l'hc, /l~nc*~.ic.an 'Ii11.1' Kc.gisrc.l-. lhcc tlro~r,qlrnrr nc.- c.ori1r1 of IItr Prrforltlntr('r.s OII t11r ,.I r1r~ric,n7rtzrrf. nnrl (IIP /~r(/i~ree.sof !ltoro~cglthrrd Itor.s(~.s.riiill r.o~r.s/i- tltlr tlrr basis of lltc rclork. i/ i.s rlc.si,q~r~rl,al.so, ns (I Aln,qn:i~re of i~tfor~~rcttio~ro~tr~ctrri~~crry .slthjrcls gr?~r,rnlly;n11d of zlctriorts rui-(11 .s/~ort.s.11,s Iinci?r,q,Tr~llitrg Mntc~ltr.~, .Sltooti~r,q,If zi~rli~t,q, Fi.slri~r,q, hc. & Sporting Magazine together with original .sketche.s of Trout fishing has already commencerl the natural history and habits of TROUT FISHING in this part of the country: in fact, I con- American game of all kinds: and sider April (taking into view that the trout hence the title, The American Turf are far better than those taken in the au- Register and Sporting Magazine. It Augusta, Me. April 20, 1831 tumn,) as the better season for this sport. will of course be the aim of the Mr. Editor: It has been asserted, by some writers, that Editor to give to his journal an Among the multitude of diversions, this fish, after leaving their spawn, in the original Arnerican cast, conveyin,q invented by man to banish ennui and autumn, pass the winter in the deep at once, to rradrr.7 of all ages, engage the mind, the simple art of the waters, grow sick, lean, ancl oftentimes amusement and in.strziction, in fisherman disposes the soul to that quiet lousy. It is true they pass the winter regard to our orun country, its and serenity which gives him the fullest months in the deepest holes; but it is in animals, birds, fishes, &c. In the possession of himself and his enjoyments. those places that they receive that pecul- absence of domestic materials, the It gratifies the senses and delights the iar appearance and flavour which tle- magazine.^ receiued from abroad mind. The scene, constantly changing, lights the eye and gratifies the palate of will .supply an ample .stock of affords him a healthful and spirit-stirring the gourmand. Every one who is ac- appropriate matter. enjoyment that is difficult to communi- quainted with the peculiar habits of the cate, except to those who "seek that har- trout knows that they are in season assed race, peculiar in distress." I have during the months of spring and sum- thou~htc, that a few remarks on this sub- mer, and that as the season advances thev ject (more particularly on trout fishing,) lose many of their good qualities. Dur~ng Fortunately for us, Skinner decided to would be in season: the months of autumn, when they may be include angling topics, even though taken In great number\, they are hardly these were peripheral to his main inter- "For now each angler should his gear worth the trouble. For thc benefit of the est, namely, the turf. The publication's inspect, angler who may visit this part of the life was relatively short, the last volume From hooks and rods to landing-net." country, on a fishing excursion, I w~ll (uol. 15) appeared in 1844. It is from the merely suggest, that, from the rn~drlleof American Turf Register that we get some Every man, who is a fisherman, has May to the latter part of June he will find of our earliest glimpse.^ of fly-fishing in some private thoughts or rules, in rela- good sport. He should he well ~,rcpnrrd North America. We have been remiss in tion to piscatory sport, which he will pre- with strong tackle, (our trout here 'ile not not reprinting articles from its pages fer and cherish in preference to the small ones,) ancl a supply of flies, \pare more frequently and shall endeavor to written maxims of the veteran anglers of hooks, and lines. These latter cannot be rectify this unconscionable .slight, both the "olden time." I am as yet but little procured here. The minnow and river herein and in future issues of the Ameri- experienced in the "noble art," and, smelts are the best bait during the earlier can Fly Fisher. We are indebted to Lind- therefore, am but illy prepared to pre- part of the season-grasshoppers in June ley Eberstadt for his generous gift to the scribe rules and maxims for others. I feel and August, and brandlings, or almost Museum of an essentially complete .set of an ambition to know moreof thesecret of any kind of worm or fly, are as sure bait this very rare sporting periodical. the complete angler, and should be for autumn fishing. The oak-worm in Thefollowing two articles are from the happy to receive, through the medium of April, and the bob-worm, or red-head, in second and third uolumes of the Ameri- your valuable Magazine, such hints as to May and June, are, I think, preferable can Turf Register. The question is raised the best method of preparing lines-the baits. whether the Atlantic .salmon of Maine most killing baits, in the different sea- I notice, in the June No. vol. Ist, of can be taken with an artificial fly. This sons-as also, the best seasons for both your Magazine, that your correspondent. was a very controversial question among natural and artificial fly-fishing, and the "Walton," wishes to know if the salmon angling devotees of the early to middle flies adapted to the several months. In is ever taken with the fly in this country, nineteenth century [see for example one word, to give us all the varieties as in Great Britain. They have been taken Charles good speed'.^ Angling in Arner- in the Penobscot, about 18miles from the ica (1939) and Gleason's Pictorial (May "Of the arts and shapes, the wily sea, and, I presume, may be taken in any 20,1854)]and prompted liuely correspon- angler tries, of the rivers in Maine. I have provided dence from the readers of the then-current To cloak his fraud and tempt the myself with the requisite tackle, and in- sporting periodicals. finny prize." tend fishing for them in the Kennebec in the manner above mtwtionc~tl..I'licy arcs taste or appc~titc~ofthc trout, I will mtwly to the government of the United States- abundant in all our rivers in Junr and 5ay that I taught five, trout, which wcre his amiable deportment, his frank and July. I shall he pleasc~l,at somc. futurr all that the tornllany ca~~ght,which wa5 unassuming manners, his various intelli- day, to send you a comrnunic;~tio~lon fly- owing to my using a11 oak-wormx for gence, and his elegant hospitality. We do fishing for salmon, ant1 hopr to sc~ttlethe bait. The otlirrs usrtl ~ninnows,worms, not say that he was the most popular question, as to its prartic.ability in this kc. My companion (.aught 58 perch, large minister that ever represented the court of country, as questioned by your (.orre- ancl small. 'I'he trout weight~d,on an aver- St. James in our country; but wearequite spondent, "Walton." I scXeno rctsori why age, 2':. 11)s. Wt, Irft Brlgraclc (after a fine sure that one more popular never filled the salmon should not takr the. fly* in thr s~~pperof trout at thc tavrrn,) at 7, P.M. for the place. His departure was a source of lJnited States as well as in (;rc,at Britain. Augusta. much regret, and has left a blank in the Accompanied by a 1)rotht~;rnglcsr, I Irft I shall contiriue to visit the trout society in which he moved, and where the here, on the 8th instant, for Krlgr:rtlc streams, which al)oi~nclin this state, from kindest feelings are still cherished towards bridge, about 10 miles tlistant. Wt. wrrc time to time, and will cornrnr~niratrto him. We hear, with much satisfaction, r re pared with evrry thing rrcluisitr for you the result of my excursions and the that his health, which had seriously suf- killing trout. The roacls I~caingvc~y l)atl, condition of thr sl~ottetlfinny tribe. fered in our country, has, since his return owing to recent violtmt storms, wcs wrre I regret that I coi~ltlnot srnd you one of to his native home, become perfectly re- unable to arrive in srason to fish. Wr the lake trout which Mr. M-- promised stored. found the stream much highrr than ustral, you. The winter snows (lid not admit of We could not omit the opportunity of and much discolourc.cl from thc~rainsand my visiting Moost. Hcrd Lake during the paying a passing tribute of respect to one breaking up of thr ire in th(. pond. My past winter, or you ctartainly would have who, with the generous heart of a sports- companion predicted I)irt 1)oor sport. At received onr of tlir lake trout, parkrd in man and philanthropist, combined so day light, next morning, we c.ornmrncetl ice. The plrdgr shall be redeemed next many other titles to the esteem of all who fishing, with, I must c.onfrss, but small winter. J.R.P. knew him. appearance of success. .I'li(* atmosphere was thick and hazy, with cavcryindic.ation of rain. These ill omcBriswrrr, howevcsr, But to the fishing tackle! It consistsof a soon dispelled by my c.ornpanion's land- very superior collection of reels, lines, ing a fine trout. I irnmrtli:~tc~lyoprnecl thca flies, bails and hooks; sent so appropri- fish, and found a nu~nl~crof srnctlts, which FISHING TACKLE2 ately to one who has given the coup de we used as bait, ancl founcl them 1)rcxfr.r- grace to many a noble trout. We have able to the oak-worm, with which wr had "Around the steel no tortured worm examined it carefully, and may safely af- commenced fishing. I woirltl lit-rr re- shall twine; firm that we never before saw any thing of commend to those who wish gootl sport, No blood of living insects stain my line. the kind at all comparable with it. Some to follow this examl)le, ant1 use the same, Let me, less cruel, cast the feathered of the hooks are of a singular, and to us or nearly similar )lait as that which is hook, entirely new form, and we doubt not ad- found in the fish. After sprntling the day With pliant rod, across the pebbled mirably adapted to their object. very pleasantly, we rc~turnrtlto Augusta brook; Among the flies, is a complete series of with twenty-lhrrr fine trout, wrighirig Silent, along the mazy margin stray, the Irish salmon fly, and all of a most from 2%to 4 Ibs, each, ;~nclof an atlmirahlr And with the fur-wrought fly delude killing aspect. Fishing for the salmon has quality. the prey." not, we believe, been a successful sport in I left Augusta ycstc~rclay,;it 1, P.M. iri our country. We have heard of a few at- company with a gcmtlcman who has, in- We have lately had an opportunity of tempts in the waters of Maine, where this deed, no prrtensions to a knowlrdgr of examining a box of fishing tackle, sent, fish is so abundant, but of no success. the "noble art." Wr ;trrivc~dat Belgrade at as a token of friendly remembrance, by Those with whom we have conversed on half past 2, P.M. My compa~lionprefc.rrec1 the Hon. Mr. Vaughan, to Gen. Gibson the subject, could not recount a single fishing for pt~rcli.'I'hcrca wrrr four or five of our army. instance in which this noble fish had been trout f~stiersat thr 1)ritlge at thr time of We all recollect Mr. Vaughan, the min- known to rise and strike at a fly. But we my arrival. To show tlir fic.klrnrss in thcs ister from the kingdom of Great Britain think if he is to be induced, it is by some such tempting lure as is to bc found in naturally brave, placid and benign, like We draw our readrrs' attmtlon to the this admirable collection. his, will animate and soften the roughest sentence "He rye7 tlzr glztterzng floating The trout flies, too, are to all appear- exterior, and thus display itself uncon- [our empharls] bauble zozth apparent un- ance the very thzng. sciously to the eye of the observer; as does concrrn"-prrhapr a dry fly, orlu~tlzter- the industrious bee. who fancies his la- ary lzcense? a "So just the colours shine through bours are concealed as well as protected every part by a hive of glass.-Behold this veteran of That nature seems again to live in art." the angle seated on a rock, amidst the I. TIIPAmrri~nn T~irJRrg~,~/rr nndSporting foaming waters and deafening roar of the Mngnzinr (1831), vol. 2, no. 9, p. 457. There is in this assortment of tackle, cataract.-He rises slowly upon his feet, 2. Thrilnzrricnn TzirfRqqi.vtrr nndSporttng also, a series of trollzng baits and lines- and with motion deliberate and graceful, Mngnzinr (IX32), vol. 3, no. 5, p. 256. the latter wired near the hook, to protect throws his line over his head, letting his them from the teeth of the voracious pike. fly light gently in the eddy, about forty This tyrant of our streams, concealed in feet below. He eyes the glittering floating his sedgy bed, and poised for the onset- bauble with apparent unconcern. But in watching with savage eagerness the sil- an instant the water is ruffled-the bait very-scaled minnow moving gently before disappears-the whizzing of the reel re- him, knowing not that it is barbed at all sounds through the air. His eyes sparkle points-but, darting upon the innocrnt with delight and anxiety-he checks- prey, finds, too late, (what many have the fish is hooked, found before him) that "all is not gold that glitters." "And downward plunges with the We doubt not that the rock would rise fraudful prey." at these flies, and we are surprised that this delicious and gallant fish has been so And now the contest begins.-How the much neglected by our sportsmen. His fish darts, and struggles and leaps. Now ERYOTHER DIVERSF attack is as fierce as that of the pike, and running upon the line-now dashing off his game as true. If his habits were more again to its extremity, as if to snap it by studied and experiments tried, we ven- the effort. But all in vain-the elastic rod ture to predict, that rock fishing here breaks the shock and brings him again to would rival that of the salmon in Eng- the surface. land. It is also an abundant fish in all our waters. and to be found at all seasons. We "Now hope exalts the fisher's beating know 'that he yields great sport to the heart, troller, but we wish to have him tried Now he turns pale, and fears his with the fly at the falls of the Potomac, dubious art; where this fish takes a trolling bait so He views the tumbling fish with greedily. longing eyes, And here, gentle reader, if we had a While the line stretches with pencil that would faithfully depict our th' unwieldly pri7e; "imaginings" for the engraver, we would Each motion h~~mourswith his stratly have him present to your view a genuine hands, disciple of old Izaak Walton-something And one slight hair the mighty bulk over six feet "in his stockings," with a commands; countenance of cast iron, with which na- Till, tir'd at last, despoil'd of all his ture, in a modest mood, vainly intended strength, to encase and keep out of view her exqui- The game athwart the stream unfolds Title page from the British site interior workmanship. But a spirit h~slength." Sporting Magazine Goose Trees and Burbots: Richard Franck's Northern Memoirs by Anne Imbrie Charles Goodspeed in his schol- and tenure of Franck's residence inNorth see five English kings on the throne arly, well-researched book, An- America. But what of Franck's merit a.s a (James I, Charles I, James 11, Charles 11, gling in America, referred to writer? Characterized as pedantic by both William 111); he died in 1708. He apolo- Richard Franck as "the best sev- Goodspeed and Taverner and generally gizes for the "rough draught of a martial enteenth-century exponent of fly- maligned by others we know who have pen" and complains of his "slender edu- fishing in England," and Eric read him, we thought it would be appro- cation."' Apparently, he lived part of his Taverner writes of Franck in his priate to present an essay that speaks to adult life in Nottingham, whose waters Lonsdale Library publication, Salmon Richard Franck's literary talents. Anne and "virtuosos of the rod" he clearly Fishing, "Franck is the first true writer Imbrie graciously agreed to review knows from long personal acquaintance. on salmon-fishing and the anglingworld Franck's Northern Memoirs for us. Her His political experience is equally clear. had to wait a considerable time before the thoughtful, entertaining critique of A fierce opponent of Charles 1 (see pages next [writer] appeared. His Northern Franck and his writing follows. 43ff.), Franck served as a trooper in Memoirs [1694, and republished in 1821 Cromwell's army (the prefatory poems with an introduction by Sir Walter Scott] In his Northern Memoirs, Richard identify him as "Captain"), doing battle is full of good things covered over by Franck has created an odd mixture of against the very country he later visits on some intolerably bad philosophy and theological speculation, political judg- his extended fishing trip. Although often presented in foolishly pedantic and ment, travel narrative, and fishing- Northern Memoirs is riddled with the tra- complex language." Some of the "good manual instruction. Because at least ditional enmity the Englishman feels for things," in addition to the fly-fishing three of these subjects deeply interested his northern neighbors-a distaste Sam- methods employed for the capture of the seventeenth-century Englishman-I uel Johnson would later develop to an Salmo salar, include a description of the leave it to the reader to determine which even greater intensity-Franck nonethe- salmon fly and an enumeration of the three-we can recognize the author less laments the military excesses com- fly-tying materials contained in Franck's immediately as a man of his times. The mitted against the Scots under Cromwell's "dubbing-bag." More intriguing to us literary value of Franck's work, however, rule (see pages 234ff.) and thus suggests than his expertise as a fly fisherman and remains dubious. Like its more success- the limits of his chauvinism. Like many flytier, however, is the probability that ful forebears, William Samuel's TheArte of Oliver Cromwell's supporters, Franck Franck practiced the gentle art in this of Angling (1577)andIsaac Walton's The sought temporary refuge in America fol- country sometime between 1660 and Compleat Angler (1653), Northern Mem- lowing the Restoration, if we accept that 1687-perhaps he was America's first fly oirs is a dialogue, its principal voices his theological treatise Rabbi Moses fisherman! being Arnoldus (Franck's spokesman) (1687) was really "Writ in America in a In 1687 Franck published A Philo- and Theophilus (his friend and initiate Time of Solitudes," as its full title tells us. sophical Treatise of the Original Produc- in the art of fishing). Franck, however, Assigning a precise date for thecompo- tion of Things. According to the title unlike Samuel and Walton, never fully sition of Northern Memoirs is compli- page, it was "Writ in America in a Time realizes the value of his chosen form to cated, because the author apparently of Solitudes," and printed by John Gain. vivify character and to suggest the civil tinkered with the text considerably in the In 1708 (the year of his death as given by exchange of ideas toward the discovery of long years between its composition and the Dictionary of National Biography), truth. Franck's characters remain flat its publication. Theophilus mentions Franck anonymously published The representatives of the author's ideas, and that Arnoldus "writ [his] book in 58, and Admirable and Indefatigable Adventures his mixture of subjects is imperfectly spread the net to 85" (page 286). Indeed, of the Nine Pious Pilgrims, Devoted to accommodated to the dialogue form, escape from political turmoil in England Sion by the Cross of Christ; and Piloted which throughout seems only a weak provides the reason for the tour Arnoldus by Evangelist to the New Jerusalem. The effort to make the matter more entertain- and Theophilus undertake in Scotland, a title page states that it too was "Written ing. Here we find none of Wal ton's decor- reference that might argue for a time of in America.. ." (For an excellent discus- ous stylistic polish, nor Samuel's lively composition immediately following sion of Franck and his American connec- colloquialism and character develop- Cromwell's death in early September tion, see Angling in America, by Charles ment. Nevertheless. the text offers consid- 1658. Franck, however, nowhere alludes E. Goodspeed. Boston: Houghton Mif- erable historical interest and provides as to the death of Cromwell, whom he flin Company, 1939.) So here we have a well-perhaps even better than the old names one of England's great heros in a knowledgeable, sophisticated fly fisher- master himself-practical information panegyric late in the text (see page 286). man residing in North America some- on the varieties of fish in the rivers and Such a momentous event would surely time in the latter half of the seventeenth locks of Scotland and the means for have merited mention by an ardent century. It is inconceivable to us that he catching them. Cromwellian, had the text been com- missed the opportunity to tempt one or We know little of Franck beyond what posed after Cromwell's death. In addi- another species of the finny tribe with the autobiographical comments in this tion, autumn seems an unlikely time to one of his feathered creations during his book tell us. He was born in Cambridge begin a tour of the chilly north. It is sojourn in America. It would be most late in the reign of James I (which was likely, then, that Northern Memoirs was interesting to try to ascertain the location from 1603 to 1625), living, as he says, to written earlier in 1658, but the fishing trip itself was taken at least a year before; the references to political difficulties may have been added later, or they may indi- cate more generally an intensely political climate from which Franck might have wanted a vacation. At any rate, the book did not appear until 1696, its publication no doubt delayed because of the many Northern Memoirs 1 political references that surely would 9 have placed the author in jeopardy. CalculatedC for the Franck's use of initials to identify the principal figures only thinly disguises them. a Meridian of SCOTLAND. We find in Franck's Northern Memoirs Wherein moR or all of the &it&/ what we are likely to find in any subliter- Citfe8, ary text produced in a great literary age: Deis, Best POP$, QIafife,p, $olts, certain stylistic features, even thematic q JFo~tteEcP,%tberfi and Btb~let$jare content, that we associate with the great writers of the day, but here, translated compendioufly defcribed. through and transformed by the author's Together wit11 choice Colle&ions of Various essential mediocrity. Franck's diction, for example, like his great contemporary Di fcoveries, Remarkable Obfervstions, John Milton's, is extremely Latinate. But Theological Notions, Political Axioms, because Franck has an imperfect sense of National Intrigues, Polemick Inferences, decorum-the appropriateness of style to subject-his linguistic virtuosity seems Contemplatiom, Speculations, *andfeveral little more than pedantry and is inadvert- curious and induftrious InrpeQions, lineally antly comic at best. Exercise "extimu- drawn from Antiquaries, and other noted lates" the stomach, and fortresses are Peribns "innoculated" to the air. Arnoldus never and intelligible of Honour and leads his friend, Theophilus, he "manu- Eminency. ducts" him. Franck commits frequent 3b ztrbich fi add:d, redundancy as well; nature, for example, has "bounds and limits," and various fea- 1 abe he~c~~tmplarrurR p?adrsl Glnglrr, tures of the landscape or the weather by way of Diverlion. With a Narrative cf that dex- "prognosticate signs." The descriptions trous and myfierious Arc experimented in England, and of the landscape, in fact, which might perfelted in more remoteand rolitrry Parts ot Scotland. otherwise distinguish this text, seem By way of Dialogue. either cliched or unintelligible and * hardly suggest the author's precise obser- vation: "at those knotty descents, Nep- : Writ in the Year 1658, but not till now made publlck, tune careers on brinish billows, arm'd with Tritons in corslets of green, that By Bi~biltDfieanclt, Pbilanthropus threatens to invade this impregnable .I rock, and shake the foundations, which if Plures nccat Gula qunm Glqdizu. +I he do, procures an earthquake" (page 110)-the confusion in the verb forms LONDON obscures the sense. In this landscape, Printed for the Author. To be bid by Hezry Mnrtilor~at streams always murmur, Aurora blushes the Phmix, in Sc. pad's Churcll-yard. r 594. fairly, Zephyrus breathes softly, the sun "shades his beams in Thetis lap, and the I I purple pavillion of night overspreads the creation" (page 138). Despite Franck's apologies for his unpolished style, a common enough rhe- torical protest among even the most efful- gent writers of this century, he clearly takes both delight and pride in his purpled prose, judging from the fre- quency with which he exercises it. The virtuoso figure, by the mid-seventeenth century, had become a recognizable type, and perhaps Franck fancied himself one of this literary brotherhood as well as a virtuoso of the rod. Occasionally, at least, his Latin researches pay off in the form of Title page from the rare first edition of Richard Franck's Northern Memories, etymological puns and word play, as in 1694. Courtesy of the Yale University Library the adroit phrase "without exorbitant desires, we should shine like the stars" controls the conceit less adeptly than the masters; its parts are inconsistantly apt. Similarly, in one of his theological dis- cussions, Amoldus argues that "tlio~~gh sin untune the strings of thesoul, yet sin cannot unstring the soul; the faculties arr left still, though in such tlisorcler, that all \.*. .& ,.. . , the wit of man can no more tune them, ,. ,. ,.. 1,: than the strings of an untun'd lute can clispose thrmsclves for harmony, without a skilful1 musician's hand" (page 132). Although the theological point all but tlisappears in this fine distinction, the use of the metaphor closely resemblc~sHer- bert's lament for his own soul "~rntun'd, unstrung," which later will "a I~rokt,n consort raise / Ant1 thr musick shall be praise." Franck finds his favorite images among the stars, a source of contempla- tion that stimulates his most luxurious writing. The following passagr illus- trates the uneasy conjunction of his favorite metaphors-scientific, musical, and geographic-in a typical theological discussion (page xxxi): To study contemplation is thehigh way to heaven, where the subrrrbs consist of a clivine composition, and where you may read by those Loclz ATLIC,Scotland. From Hofla?zd'.s British Angler's Manrral, 1848 eclition oracles the stars. the 1)eautiful order of celestial bodies, and the greater and Irsser world all harmony; for heaven and earth are correlates, which duly to contemplate, poises (page 7), ant1 in the rather more clumsy into obscurity and sometimes telling our passion, and baffles our pride; axiom, "an old proverb is a gootl prcmo- error. In explaining the origins of the which necessarily pursues the foot- nition, and a timrly premonishmr,nt pre- word Tipprofin, the name of a small vil- steps of generation, as naturally as vents a premonire" (page 258). Similarly, lage, Franck recounts the sad case of a rust follows copper, which without his fl-equent refrrence to the "polite, Catholic priest who fell into a bog near dispute is the death of the com- sands" of Scotland seems a mis:~pplica- this place; despairing of rescue, the priest pound. tion of the word f~olitr,until we remrm- began shouting dr profzcndis, the words brr that in its root sense, it simply means of the Psalmist. The cry aroused the In his attitude toward nature generally, 'polished,' ;IS a stone or a grain of santl locals to pull him from the bog. Franck, Franck again exemplifies seventeenth- might he. His pride in his own linguistic however, so bowdlerizes his Latin that he century man. Although the better-known ability csvitlcntly It~aclshim occasionally ruins his tale. Tipprofin, concrivably a writcrs of the period, especially Milton to consider the vt~h;~lcuriosit ies of the homophone for dr profl~ndi.r,cannot he anti Donne, may have developed the idea Scots as we1 I, as for example, in his expla- heard at all in Franck's faulty \~crsionof more artfully, Franck's notion was com- nation of thr worcl comrr to dcnote the the Latin phrase: rx profzrnditatibl~.r monplace that nature was "a large and sociable Scotswoman; 111c Scots prefer (page 155). legible folio to write by.. . the great and this term to the morr tlerogatory go.s.sip, Many of Franck's favoritt. metaphors stupendous volume of creation" (page Franck tells us, becarrse Scotswomrn will sound familiar torratlersact~uainted xxx). The accommodation of his descrip- COTIPP togethrr for talking rathrr th:rn with other seventernth-century writers. tions of naturr to the Protestant compul- drinking (page 91). The origins of the Like Andrew Marvell, whom Franck sion to rrad and interpret rightly the English word gossip arc obscure. The names one of the English heros (although "Book of Crratures" may, inclred, ac- word originally signified a godp;~rent for political, not poetical, reasons), count for the peculiar generalizing in and may hc a c.orruption of (;od'.s .sib, Franck favors elaborate mathematical which Franck engages. meaning 'God's kin,' or earthly reprcSsen- and scientific metaphors. Even more. he Although Franck's descriptions of tative. Franck's account of the word here relishes mirsical metaphors and often nature do not seem carefully detailed, the providcs evitlencr for an interesting ancl develops them into metal~hysicalcon- author's attitutle toward direct observa- common folk etymology: that the word ceits like those we find frecluently in the tion and experience as the source of his tlerives from the iml)rrative go .sil)) ancl works of Donne and Herbert. Thus the authority perhaps most iclentifies North- thus i1nplit.s a conrlcction t)cstwecw a angler "loves no musick but the twangof ern Memoirs as a late-seventeenth-cen- loose tongue ancl strong drink. Franck the line; nor any sound, save the echocs tury text. On this basis Franck compares allows that comrr may simply he a of the water; no rest nor pausc, hut impa- his work with that of Isaac Walton, euphemism for the Scots' tendenc.y to tient till thev bite: no flatsnorsharns.1. but whom Franck disparages lor trlling a "drink till thev sigh to clo penance for solitary pools and rapid streams; no beats "tedious fly story, extravagantly collected their sins." nor shakes, but struggling and stran- from antiquated authors . . . .whose au- More often than not, however, Franck's gling; and, in short, no close except that thority to me seems alikeairthentick, as is pride in his own words precedes a fall of the panirr" (pages 122-23). Franck the gencral opinion of the vulgar pro- nhetick: for neither all nor onc2 of them [bookish authorities] is an oracle to me, experience is my master, and angling my exercise'' (pages xxxvii and xxxix). .- -4-- - Accordingly, he approves the testimony ----- of Isaac Owldham, George Merrils, and John Fawlkner, "whose experiences sprung from the Academy of Trent" (page xxxvi). Franck never misses an opportunity to dig at Walton, recounting at one point an actual argument he had with him, after which theolder man cited his bookish authorities and "huff'd away" (page 177).2 Of course, for Isaac Walton, whose ties remain strong to the Renaissance humanist tradition, truth and authority derive from learning and OF THE inherited wisdom. even as literature can grow from other literature perhaps more than from direct observation of life. The ORIGINAL "modern" seventeenth-century man, however, taking his cue from Bacon And (whom Franck cites approvingly) and others. disnlaces inherited wisdom in , . PRODUCTIOIN, favor of empirical examination and experiment. Over and over again in this text, Franck justifies his observations with the rhetorical phrase, "if eyesight be evi- : -TI- I N G S* dence," fully expecting his reader to affirm the validity of experience. This attitude, as much as his theological con- nections between piety, patience, con- templation, and angling, provides the philosophic basis of the work, and deter- mines its distinguishing features. In this way, Northern Memoirs stands in ironic relation to Walton's more artful Angler. By R. FRANC& As in the earlier work, Franck's instruc- - tion develops through a journey. While -- Walton's journey out from London and back is imaginary, Franck's is the actual record of a journey through the cities and hills of Scotland. As such, the book serves both as a travelog and fishing manual, and the cities are often described in mi- nute detail-clearly the result of personal in St. Pnal's Chttrch-7 .t !. T 68 7. observation. Nonetheless, Franck's work implicitly suggests the dangers of accept- ing direct, empirical observation for truth, illustrating the axiom, "as a man is, so he sees." A practical and military man right down to his toes, Franck's main interests are in the commercial markets and military fortifications he observes, making for much less lively reading than one might hope for, given such a promising subject as a tour through Scotland. Had the same subject been taken up by Walton, whose feel for the natural elements ant1 creations of man seems far more profound (despite- or perhaps because of-the obvious arti- fice and "learning" of Thr Complcat Angler), the story would have been far more gratifying to thoughtful readers. Walton, more than Franck, illustrates the Tttle page from A Philosophical Treatise of the Origlnal and Production of Renaissance para$ox to which Franck Things, 1687, by Rzchard Fmnck. Courtesy of th~Yale Unzuer~ztyLzbray himself often refers: what is most artifi- cial will often seem most natural, because careful artifice can imitate nature to the provides a rational explanation for it must chuckle at his "empirical" insis- life. (page 196). tence.3 Clearly, then, Franck's insistence on Even more curious is his account of the Patience, of course, is the angler's the validity of direct experience runs him famed "barnacle goose." Like many of virtue. The fisher-reader will eventually into trouble on occasion and results in his contemporaries, Franck believed that find reward for his-or her-patience. some unintentional humor as well. His this goosegrew on trees. Sheis hatched by Oddly enough, one of the prefatory impulse, for example, to include all the a pine tree and suspended from its poems to this volume insists that Franck's details of his experience undermines the branches, where she hangs by her beak work will have special appeal to the reader's interest in the bits of local color "immature and altogether insensible" ladies because "Here's nothing to offend Franck provides. These embedded narra- (page 210). Deciduous, like leaves, these their eyes or ears, /Nor fill their tender tives would insure engaging moments in geese drop off the trees in October, when breasts with dismal fears" (page xlvii). the text, were the author capable of more "to so many as providentially drop into Throughout the book, Arnoldus pro- artful selection of his details. But Franck water, protection is immediately sent vides Theophilus with the traditional can mar a curious tale just in the telling them to live; but to all others as acciden- advice to the angler found in every exam- of it. His account of the stupid tailor of tally encounter dry land, such I presume ple of this genre. That the angler must St. Johnston (who was convinced he had are doom'd to die without redemption" study patience; that he must be a pious found a stone that would render him (page 21 1). Here, the higher form of life soul; that he must appreciate the com- invisible and therefore strode naked literally grows out of the lower. Although pany of nature in his solitude-these through his village, to the great amuse- Franck admits that some may doubt the admonishments we would expect, and we ment of the locals)-potentially a de- existence of such a creature, he insists find them in abundance, ;lthough so lightful story and a good illustration of adamantly that he has actually seen mixed in with other matter as to seem too the Scot's indulgence in practical jokes- them: "But if eye-sight be evidence incidental. Neither does such traditional falls flat (pages 149ff). Similarly, when against contradiction, and the sense of matter require the author's personal the ale wife of Forfar sues Billy Pringle feeling argument good enough to refute experience. In the closing section of the because his cow drank all the beer fer- fiction, then let me bring these two con- book, however, in what seems to be an menting in her backyard, Franck's ver- vincing arguments to maintain my asser- appendix, Franck's interest in direct sion distributes the amusement over too tion; for I have held a barnicle [sic] in my observation provides the angler with con- many details, and the joke lacks punch own hand, when as yet unfledg'd, and siderable practical information and guid- (page 185ff). hanging by the beak" (page 210). ance. Here, Franck lists virtually every For the seventeenth-century reader Barnacle geese, of course, actually do species of fish popularly sought, de- assured of the value of empiricism ("Be- exist, being a variety of black goose com- scribes each in detail (giving both physi- lieve it that will, refute it that can; I know mon in the Scandinaviancountries. The cal descriptions and information on their no better evidence than eyesight," page notion that they grow on trees probably habits and haunts), and meticulously 168), two tales in particular would excite developed from the vague likeness of the explains the best baits and flies for catch- special interest. Pitloil, rumored to be the gooseneck barnacle, which attaches itself ing them. In this section he also drops the habitat of witches, is among the stops to driftwood. The fabulous creature pretentions of metaphor and theological along Arnoldus's journey through Scot- created considerable problems of classifi- speculation and simply gives Theophi- land. "Whether there be or be not such cation, whether fish, fowl, or plant. A lus the explicit instruction he has prom- mortal demons," Arnoldus wisely-like prelate in the twelfth century, for exam- ised all along. Franck's was the first of a good empiricist-suspends his judg- ple, banned the eating of barnacle geese such books to describe salmon fishing in ment (page 159). In telling, however, of during Lent because he thought them Scotland; he was the first, as well, to an earlier adventure in that area, Arnol- fish. In 1645, Sir Thomas Browne doubt- name the burbot, a fish found commonly dus assumes what he might otherwise ed the existence of "bernacles" or "goose in the waters of theTrent. His accounts of prove and thus provides thr reader with a trees," but left it to other researchers to salmon fishing and trout fishing, with clear example of the post hoc fallacy disprove the myth. At about the time bait and artificial fly, validate his claims underlying all such superstitions. Al- Franck himself was writing, a German to authority on the subject, even today. I though Arnoldus obviously believes Jesuit, Kaspar Schott, following a genu- suspect, all things considered, that if Sir himself to have been the victim of witch- inely scientific method, demonstrated Isaac "huff'd away" from his argument craft, he just as obviously lacks empirical that barnacle geese, like all other geese, with Richard Franck, he left feeling evidence for his conviction. Had the were hatched from eggs. But the fabulous bested by the superior practical angler. 5 legend of the Lock Ness monster been story hung on. As late as 1677, the Scot- current in Franck's day, he would no tish Royal Society-relying, perhaps, on emphatic "first-hand evidence" like doubt have claimed the evidence of eye- For Anne Imbrie's previous contribu- Franck's-reaffirmed their existence. sight as demonstration; as it is, he notes tion to the American Fly Fisher see Perhaps Franck, then, should not be the existence of a strange "floating "The Art of Angling" (uol. 10, no. 3). island" in that northern lake, but also blamed for his credulity, although we 1. Richard Franck, Norfhrrn Memoirs, To,qrfh~rriiith rhoicr Collrrtion.~of ~~nriou~and .solifnry I'nrfs of Scoflanrl. By zvny of Calculatrd for fhr Meridian of Scotland .... IIisro~~rrir.s,lirn~nrkablr 0 b.sm~ations, I~inlo,~tir." To which is nddrd Thr Contrmplafiue and Thrological Notion.$, Political Axioms. 2. Franck's animosity may have derived in Practical Anglrr. Reprint. (Edinburgh: National Inlrigzic,.~,Polrntirk InJrrrncr.s, part from a sense of rivalry; but the enmity Archibald Constablr, 1821), pages xii and Contrmplatio~z.~,Sprculntion.~, and srz~rral was surely partly political as well: Walton, xxiv. All further citations arc3 from this rztriozts and industriozi.~Insprrtzons, lineally of course, was a Royalist. edition, indicated parrnthetically in the text. dmri~nfrom Antiqzinrir.~,and othcr rzotrd 3. Browne's account appears in his My thanks to David R. Lrcllie for the loan rind intrlligiblr Prrsons ~(Nonournnd Pseudodoxia Epidemica, or Vulgar Errors of this book. The full title should be Eminrncy. To riihich is nddrd Thr (1645). For further information on the myth enough to discourage the casual reader: Confrntplnfirwand Pmrticnl Anglrr, by way of the goose tree, see Ernest Ingersoll, Birds "lI'/~rrrinnto.st or all of ~/IPCitir.s, Citndrl.~, o( Dir~rrsion.With a Narmfir~rof fhnt in Legmd, Fable, and Folklore. (London: Sen-ports. Cn~l1r.s~Fort.s, For/rr.ssrs, Rirlrr.~, drxtrro~isnnd nzystrrious Arf r.~prrimrnfrd Longmans, 1923), pages 64-66. and Rir~ulcfs,nrr camprndiozi.sly dr.~rribrrl. in England, nnd prrfrrfrd in more rrnzofr (left to right) Frank Charles, a two-day The Red Trout: legal limit of S. marstoni, and the author Profile of a Rare Garnefish During the 1930s in Quebec Sonlrtimr.~70r forg-ct to look sons in a Wheatley fly box accompanied Kendall 1914, Vladykov 1954, andQuadri dirrrtly l~arko7~r our .sho7tkdrr the fly rod. The Hendricksons had been 1974). It is possible that this subspecies of and rxn~nirzrtlti~7g.s that orr1irrrd drc,ssetl to the original pattern; I recog- char represents an S, a1pinu.r dispersal during our lifitinlr.~.To u.7 thry nized the original dressing during later from northern Europe via the Atlantic .srrrn oflittlr ronsrqurnrr, that is, yews. The pattern included tails from the Ocean, probably with the Atlantic salm- n1rindartr. Bztl zcrr rn~i.ttnotforgrt crest of a goltlen pheasant, almost color- on (Snlmo .salar), and the smelt (osmrrus that u~hatzcrr (10 TZOZLI is 11i.storyfor less transparent hackle, and wings fash- rprrlanu.~).(See Cltars, A .systrmatic flrlltrr, grnrmtion.~,artd 70(, 1ta7~an obli- ionetl from wootl cluck. r~lirzoby R. J. Behnke, etl. by Eugene K. gation to arcurat~lyrrcord for postrrity "The rod and silk line go with thr Balon.) our rrroll~~.lio~z.s(tl~out 1i~i1r.s and rrlrnt.~, Hrntlricksons," my father said, before he Quc.hec red trout are distributed around zohilr the drlai1.s arc. .slill frr.slr in our smiled anti atltlctl, "Release all of the Quebec wherever suitable waters can be mirid.~.Ed I>nz~i.s'.spirrr, "Thr Krd s~naIIones unharrneti, anti retain enough reached from the early postglacial seas. Troltl," rrrotints for z4.s ~~11atar~glin,qzoa.s trout for the one tal~l~." The red trout is not found in Ontario. It likr for 11in1 in Qztrbrr in thr lO3O.s. Wr Looking bark after fifty years' expr- docs not exist south or west of the line of arr told of the tnrklr, of thr fly-fi.shirzg rirncc with the fly rotl, I realize the wis- the Nipissing Great Lakes outlet via trrhr7iq7tr.s, and of zohnt i.s r~ozva rnrr tlom of those words. The subspecies of Lake Nipissing and the Ottawa River. .s111).rprrir.sof 111~char family, Salvclinus trout that inhabited the nearby waters Atlventurc with theauthor, if you will, marstoni-the Marstone or red trout. He that provided for so much ple:isure dur- into that region of lakes that are located has preserued for us and our progeny a ing thr 1930s are rarely mentioned in cur- north of the St. Lawrence River, approxi- small, yet significant, piece of rrcent rent angling literature. I refer to the red mately one hundred twenty miles north- angling history, and for thzs wr are trout (Sab~rlinz~smar.~toni) of the south- west of Montreal. and into a sparsely grateful. ern Quebec watershed. These magnifi- populatetl region that-in the main- rent game fish, keen to accept the dry fly consists of smz~llfarm communities with ant1 the streamer fly, are now rare. names such as Brebeuf and Vendee. The virw through the small Ieatlc*tl Anglers with a sense of adventure arid These tiny villages are just beyond the panes of glass in the library is rnidwintrr. curiosity about the history of thered trout encl of the Canadian National Railway's Patches of snow contrast with thc tlark, may marvel that it is one of very few (C.N.R.) line (at the village of St. Remi). somber tones of the landscape, and I sul~speciesof char that have survivccl in This region, tht, Papinea~l-Labellecoun- reflect upon times of the calendar more isolation since the Pleisocenc glaciation. ty of Quebec, is con~~,risetlofrollinghills alqxopriate for fly-fishing. Other clays, Two other examples of relict char that and mountains. The roads during the some vintage years, each tletail is c.lcarly have also survived are the Oquassa trout, 1930s were quite rough; they consisted of recalled. These reflec.tions and some now almost extinct in northwestern gravel over logs, and when traversed by recent experiences have many pleasur- Maine, and the aurora char, seldom found car, one experiencetl the "washboard" able highlights, I)ut likr many memories, in the Wilderness Lake country of Ontario. effect. Lac Cameron was at the end of the they are oc,casionally tintctl with nos- We may call the S. marstoni the the rrtl road in that area of the county. talgia. char of Quebec. Since the glacial period, By fortunate circumstance, I was raised There was a time when I was not cer- the red tro~~thas survived and evolved in in a milieu of fly fishermen. One of our tain. about fly-fishing. Not crrtain, that isolation as an important glacial relict. family friends was a contractor who had is, until I inherited a cane rod. The 0c.c.a- This char is characterized by approx- built a house on Lac Cameron. Building sion for inheritance constitutctl a memor- imately twenty gill rakers, sixty-four a house at this location was a consider- able fourteenth birthclay. Five Hcndrick- vertebrae, and forty pyloric caeca (see able achievement. A large lake, with almost twenty-three miles of shorclinc, was sixty to one hundrc~tlfrcst deep, and areas on the, slrorc~linc~not overgrown and a road in poor contlition, rnadr~ second-growth timbcsr grew to tlir shore- with trees ;~nd1)r11sIl. The m;~jordiet for building quite difficult. The roatl cir- line-except at the outlet. Many tlrer the trout in Lakc, Munroe were leeches, cumnavigated less than three miles of the were observed drinking at th(>outlet tlur- tlragonflics, ant1 tla~nsc-lflies.Our knowl- shoreline and provitled access to about ing early morning arrivals at this lake. etlge of entomology pr(~cludrtlthe dis- four farms and ten cottages on the shore Small sticklehack minnows wereocca- ccrnrnrnt of rnitlgc, prll)a or other nutri- of the lake. Lac Cameron was renownrcl sionally observetl in this I;~kr,alongwith tion. One, of thc interesting fcat~~resof for smallmouth black l~ass,northcrn the ~is~talleeches, tiny grcscBnfrogs, anti- Lakc Munror was that tluring a periotl of pike, and pickerel. The attr:rction for us, during Aug~~st-grassho~)l,t~rsI)lown many ycxrs of fly-fishing there, nearly as fly fishers, centered upon thrrt~small into the lake. Once, we c3vensaw a c;rttar- every rctl tror~tweighc,d apl,roximatcly 14 lakes (Little >out Lake, Munroc. 1-ake, pillar epidemic. This 1;rttc.r phrnorncna poun(1. 'I'hesc. tror~tnfc~rc8 c.Iiiir;~c.tcrized by and Rig Trout Lake), 1)eyond the moun- is worth somecleboration. Arrivingrarly o1-angc~-tintct1ventral fins, and il-idcscent tain ranges surrountling 1,;~.C;alnc*ron. one morning. at the lakc. wr tliscovered -7run-l)lue tlorsal surfaces. 'I'hcir table During the nineteen years of fly-fishing that the trees surrounding the entire lake quality was s~ipcrl)~rnd, as one who h;ts for S. mnr.~toniin these three lakes, I nlet were covered by grcc5n catcrl)illars who livctl ant1 fished on our 1)cautiful West only three fishermen who wcsrc pry- were in the proc.rss of r;rting thr leaves. Coast, I rank t1lc.m ecl~r;~lto tl~cqualities viously unknown to mib, two of w1iic.h All of the rises wca o1)sc-rvcd wc*rt3close to of fresll soc.k(*yesalrnon. were local game wartlens. tht, shorclinc of tlic lake. On that morn- ing we had portagcstl ;I 11irchl)ar.k canoe, ant1 when Frank Charlrs ;~ntlI rxplored Big Trout Lake Little Trout Lake the shoreline, it brc.;irne ol~viousthat the trout were fccding vor;~c.iouslyon thost, FIindsight 1,rc~tlisposcsmr to rc~rnc~mI)r*r Little Trout Lake was rc2ac.hc.d 1)y first caterpillars th;rt li;~tl tlrol,l,ctl off the this lakt3 as thc, most l)t~;tutifuland pro- traveling to the south of Lac. (:;~mcronI)y foliage overhanging tht. lakc. We sclccted ductivt. for rctd trout tluring two tlcc.atles l~oat,and then hiking for twenty minutes two grtben-l~otlic~tlstrrarncr flies f1-om of fishing ;tr~tlrsl)loration in the arra. I over a mountain. 'This I;rkr, almost callip- which we rcrnovc*tlthcllac.klr, wings. and have. r5njoycd fishing lakes and trout tical in shape, was full of retl trout. On tails. The two-(lay Irg;~l-l,ossrssio~~limit strwlns in thch soutlirrn Quehec watcLr- one occasion I caught the. two-(lay 1eg;11 of trout was quic,kly ol)t:~ined. .There shccl, iilcl~rtlingtllost. lakes sit~ratctlin limit by 10:SOa.m. Ant1 not infreclut~r~tlyI were, nec~tllessto say, ;I Iiirgr numhrr of thc Si11gc.r Rrsc~rvc~in the area of Mont- have taken two 11+-pountlfish together: reel tro~itreleaseti on III;II tl;rv. l)ellicsr. Qucl)cc.. (l'heSingcr Reservec.on- one on the tippit fly ant1 one on the Even though our knowletlgc of ento- tainctl at Icast nine lakes. Onc co~rldfish dropper fly. W'e occasionally c;rrrietl a mology was rnini~n:~l,the plrntiful ~~ilhiilthe rcst'rvc ;rfter obtaining ;I per- lightweight canoe into Little 'Trout Lake supply of S. nznrstoni and, vrry often. mit from thc SingcbrSewing Machine and therefore had thr opportunity to their intensivcx ~,roc.livityto frt~tl,rcsulted C:ornl);~ny. Singer, at this time, ~~setl;I explore all of thr shorc,linc. Without a in well-above-~tvcr:~g(~c.atches. wood I);~scafor thrir scwing machines; thr canoe, raft, or inflata1)lt. boat, fly-fishing rt's~rv~was ;I soitrcc for the wood.) was restricted to a long trt,c trunk, with a It is now m;lny yews sinc-c I have fishetl platform built at thr, entl of tllr tr~rnk. Rig 'Ii.or~tI.akc. It is normal, I supl)osrn. This arrangement accommotlated the use Munroe Lake to want to go back, but I know that thc of the fly rod, if only in a small part of the experience would give far less pleasure lake area. When fly-fishing from the tree The late 1930s was a very early, forma- than my memories of this lake. There are trunk or platform, as a rule we used a tive time in my life-long enough ago roads now throtrgh what was once wil- more powerful fly rod. Today such a rod that I am left with the impression the derness, ant1 cottages are being built. I would be classed as a #7 or #8 weight. trout season opened in the region I write know nothing ahout the quality of the During those days, we used a silk line about on April 15. There were some water totlay. 1,111 during the late 1930s we designated as HDH for the .5%-ounce, 9- years, I recall, when the ice was notout of hat1 samples of the water testetl in Mont- foot cane rod. Eighty- to ninty-foot casts Lac Cameron. When such conditions rezrl. The water, ;rt that time, was safe to were not uncolnmon with such equip- prevailed, there was virtually no access to clrink. My last journey to Big Trout Lake ment; such casts require less effort today, Little Trout Lake. Winds from the north was at dawn tluring the second wtbek of however, because of irnprovctl equip- or northwest pushed and piled the ice at June. I recall the mist-wrcathetl imagc of ment for casting. The silk line was ideal the south side of Lac Cameron. No flat- Munror Lake on my left ant1 the ~)atches for fishing wet flips, including streamer I~ottornVersherres-type boat could possi- of moss ;rlong the trail-softer than ;I Per- flies, but it did not float for very long. It bly neg~tiatesuch obstacles. The only sian rug. The area was reminiscent of the was important to have a well-tlressetl oution. then. was Munroe Lake. Picturea Scottish Highlands. Thrre was ash- spare line on an extra reel if dry-fly fish- sparkling sunlit morning during early colorcsd licllen, and in the forest grew ing was anticipated. We tlressed our fly spring, and walk with us through1 the silvcr l)irch. c.111-leafmaplr, ant1 pine. At lines, almost withorrt rxcel~tion,with hills along an unusetl logging trail, now times there was no disce.rniblt3 trail. One Mucilin. Gut Ieatlrrs were used cxclu- 1)arely cliscernahle as a footpath. Patches made certain to retain the south shoreline sively. During thr 1930s. Wheat ley pro- of snow and violets abouncl in thc sht~l- of M~~nrorI.akc on thr left until tlic~tr;~il. duced a fly box with a top compartmrnt teretl plarcs. Thirty-five minutes of hik- past the lakc., slopetl downw;~rtls.Sutl- for leaders. I generally so;tkcd my gut ing were required to r(~chMunroc Creek. tl~~nly,at the floor of a small v;~llry,the leaders overnight in a glass tuml)lcr, on -The creek, an o~~tltstof Munroe L~kr, tlcclinc~I(.vc~letl off ant1 thr rnarshlantl the mantlr of the fircpl;~c,rat the housr on c~vt~iituallyflowt~tl in to 1.a~Cameron. al)l)t':~rc,(l. It was nrccssary to c.ross th(- Lac Cameron. Rut for 1)urposcs of trans- Leaving tht. tr;~il;II the c.reck, it was ~n;~~.sh1)s l);~l;~nc.ing onrsrlf ant1 willking porting the le;~dc~rsto the trout lakcs, the nrc.cssary to circ.umnavigm a sw;inll)y from log to moss-c.overcc1log in ortl(-r to gut was plac.catl brtwc*c.ntwo wrt felt ~,;rtls. arm in ortlcr to re;~ch;I Icngtli of short*- r(.:~(.litlry 1:nntl. .I'hcarr wxs no allow;rr~cc The lc:~tl(~rsw'rr ~(~I~c~KIII~t:~pcrtxl to .Ol 1 linr c.ha~-;rc.tc*rizc.tlby largt~.flat. gently lor c.rror. On(, slip c.or~ltl,at thts I(~;rst, or ,012 inc.11cs di;~mc.tc.r. sloping tltsc-itlr~ousroc.k. 'I'hrsc, sli;~lelike ~.c,s~~ltin ;I sl)r;~irlc~tl;~nklo. Ones 111ovt*(I Little .Ii.out L.;~kc. ~v;~s~ic~stlc~l in ~hc slo1)ing roc.ks f~~nc.tioncd;IS c.xc.c*ll(wt slotvl\ ;111(1 c.;rrc-full\ hcrr, ;rrv;~rc.of tllc III~III~I;I~I~S.'1.11(, (.c~rit1.:11 ;II.C*:I of tlict 1:1kc, c.;~s~ing])la~l'orms. 11 \vas on(. of 111ts fr\v ol).jc-c.~ivc.c-losr :it h;~ntl.i1ftc.r c.lirnl)i~lg Fly casting from thr lrr~trlc71k nt Littlr Trout I,ak~ one last small mountain, one reachctl the streamer flies provrd vrry effective. These hoards of black flies and mosquitoes. valley that holds Big Trout I.:tke. were the Harlequin ant1 'Trout Fin. The Survival depended upon an effective There were places on thr north shorc*of silk fly line of the clay was fine for fishing repellant. I offer the recipe of the day: this lake that allowetl sufficit~ntsp;lc.c for the tlry fly, but not for extentied periods. the backcast, and there were two w:rdal)lc False-casting failetl to dry thC line suffi- oil of citronella (Burgoync.~) '2 ounce areas. We had spent two consc,c.utivc. clays ciently after it bec;lmt. saturatetl with cedar wood oil Y ounce the previous spring builtling :I cxsting water. Even the best of cock hackle we spirits of camphor '4 ounce platform constructed of logs. This ar- had access to did not measure up to the white petrolatum 2 ounces rangement, unfortunately, had a lik-sj,;ul specially raised hackle of today. Very of only one year. Thewinter ice had taken often, elk hair was usetl for the tailsof dry Melt the petrolatum and add the its toll of this ambitious untlertaking. flies to aid floatation. Whcn tiiagnosis of other ingredients; place in a jar IJsually we fly-fished with threr flies. A the riseform indicated trout feetling on on ice or in very cold water. Stir dark fly on the tippit, a mc.dium sh:lde of the surface, we fisheda dry fly. Patternsof until thickened. May be used as fly at the first dropper location, and 21 the day included the Black Gnat, Pale brilliantine for the hair. light fly (perhaps Yellow Sally) for the Evening Dun, Jenny Spinner, and the hand fly. The flies were positioned Blue Upright. We used leaders made from The populations of red trout have been approximately four fret apart. If S. mar- silkworm gut material of approximately severely depleted since the 1930s; I can- stoni showcd a preference for onc2fly. that 3% pounds test. This material was often not, urlfortunately, offer a recipe or for- fly would be fished as a singlc. Whcn referred to as jinn. mula for their restoration. Looking back, trout were surface feeding, thc~ywcbrr During the late 1930s I acquired a 9- with all of the disarming simplicity of taken with a small wet fly, ~~srlallylighr foot cane rod made by S. Allcock and hindsight, I am reminded of what can be colored, dressed to float in thr surklc.c. Chmpany, Ltd., of Redditch. Designated lost. That we should preserve the trea- film. The small wet fly wasoften touchrtl as The Conway model, this rod was char- sures we possess and presently enjoy can- here and there with oil of citronella.'This acterized by stiffer middleand tipsections not be overemphasized. Our links with oil was also used as oneof the ingretlients than rods I had previously used. It could the past-and these links include the red of our fly repellant. The gut leatler was carry a longer line and made for improved trout-can be tenuous. The future for the drawn through a felt pad that containctl casting of the dry fly. fly fisher, indeed the heritage of the fly Mucilin, except for the last two feet of gut The magic of S. marstoni during May fisher of the future, is inescapably linked nearest the fly. During later years, two and June was always accompanied by to what we preserve today. 5 Ed Dazlis is a program coordinator jor Ontario's Ministry of Colleges and Universities. He has been an avid fly fisherman for almost fifty ymrs. Artic1e.s by Mr. Dm~ishar~e appeared in the Flyfisher, Flyfishing, Flyfishing the West, and Fly Tyer. 13 (left) A Billinghurst reel with its characteristic inscription (below left) The Fowler Gem. It was manufactured between 1872 and 1875. (below right) Clinton's nickel-silver reel Side-Mount Fly Reels: by Jim Brown When zt comes to dzscussing the His accompany zng artzcle on side-mount fine poznts of early American fly fly reels and thezr makers fills an zmpor- tackle, we readily admit that this tant gap in our know ledge of the deuelop- zs an area in which we have little ment of the American fly reel. expertzse. We are thankful that when we get in over our heads on tackle-related matters, we can rely on the lzkes of Ken Cameron, Mary Kelly, William Billinghurst, Alonzo Fowler, Martin Keane, and Jzm Brown to come to Charles Clinton, August Meisselbach, our rescue. The aforementioned indzvid- Albert Pettengill, Elmer Sellers-do you uals have made extraordznary contribu- recognize them? This list includes a tzons to our current knowledge of nzne- gunsmith, a dentist, an inventor, a ma- teenth- and early twentzeth-century chinist, a toolmaker, and a pharmacist, American fly-fzshing tackle. All have who were also six of America's most tal- generously gzven of their time to the ented reelmakers. They were responsible Museum, and all have wrztten signifz- for creating and perfecting auniquestyle cant, well-researched artzcles for the of reel: the side-mount fly reel. American Fly Fisher. We are pleased to The side-mount reel takes its name welcome Jim Brown back to our pages. from the fact that it is mounted horizon- (rzght) The Sellers Basket reel. It was bezng sold as late as 1947, (below left) The Mezsselbach Amateur. Note the petal-shape perforatzons an the szde plate. (below rzght) Szde-mount and top-mount Pettzngzll reels r0 American Classics tally (literally on its side) rather than ver- tinued to be sold until the mid-1880s.' 1859Aug-9." Thereel enjoyedsuch popu- tically, as are most conventional fly reels Billinghurst's first reels were made of larity and such a long production period, todav. The horizontallv mounted reel brass wire and castings assembled in such it seems to have prompted many imita- now survives only in the modern auto- a manner as to allow air to dry the silk fly tors to issue similar birdcage-style reels. matic fly reel, butduringits heyday in the lines that were in use at the time. Their The majority of these imitations were not late nineteenth century, it was avery pop- unique appearance has prompted some signed by their manufacturer. The two ular single-action fly reel. It was patented collectors to refer to them as "birdcage" most common sizes of the Billinghurst by William Billinghurst and subsequent- reels. Billinghurst's reel featured a fold- reel were 3 inches and 3% inches. The Iv modified and refined bv numerous ing handle that allowed the reel to be small one was advertised as being suit- other tacklemakers. carried in the angler's pocket or kit. By able for trout, while the large reel was Willlam Billinghurst (1809 to 1880) the 1870s, Billinghurst was nickel plat- generally employed for bass or other was a well-known gunsmith. In his ing some of his reels. Billinghurst also warm-water fish. Rochester, New York, shop he manufac- produced a limited number of nickel- Alonzo H. Fowler (1825 to 1903) may tured muzzle-loading rifles; he gained silver models that most certainly com- well have met Billinghurst and certainly quite a reputation for his target rifles. He manded a higher price and were some- must have known of his fishing reel, for also is credited by many as being the times offered as prizes in casting tour- in the 1860s Fowler lived and worked in inventor and maker of the first American naments. His reels were usually marked Rochester, New York. Fowler was a den- fly reel. His horizontally mounted reel with a neat circle in which was inscribed tist and an angling enthusiast known to design was patented in 1859 and con- "Billinghurst's patent, Rochester, N. Y. have built fly rods, and in 1872, he secured a patent on a strikingly new could easily damage a costly silk line or exactly when this practice became gen- design of fly reel that was to become gut leader. Finally, it had a clever self- eral, it is probably safe to assume that the known as the Fowler Gem. The Gem was lubricating oil reservoir, intended to advantage of this mode of operation made almost entirely of hard rubber, reduce bearing wear. Clinton's reel was became increasingly evident to the ma- molded in the shape of a doughnut! This made in only one size: 2%inches diameter, jority of anglers toward the end of the material allowed for an extremely light- 3 ounces in solid nickel-silver or 2 ounces nineteenth century. Yet the side-mount weight design: 1%ounces for the 2%inches with an aluminum spool. It is, perhaps, reel stored lineas well as any other style of diameter, 40-yard si~eand 2%ounces for the most beautiful of theside-mount reels reel, and it may have had a certain feel or the 3%inches diameter, 60-yard size. (The and a fit culmination of Fowler-type balance that its devotees found lacking in small trout-sized Billinghurst weighed 3% design. the vertical-mount reel. 'The center of ounces.) I would guess that because of its A. F. Meisselbach Manufacturing gravity of the side-mount rrrl was much extremely light weight, the Gem must Company of Newark, New Jersey, is closer to the rot1 grip, and this too might have enjoyed considerable popularity. remembered today as a large mass pro- have been judged by some as a more sta- Where are the Fowler reels todav? It seems ducer of inexpensive fishing reels of var- ble rod-reel combination. that few have survived because a fishing ious types. August Meisselbach (1865 to Whatever the reasons, some tradition- reel constructed almost entirely of hard 1927) and his older brother William minded anglers continued to prefer and rubber was too fragile to withstand the (about 1847 to 1919) started business in use the side-mount reel evcn whcn it was knocks of ordinary use. 1886 in a small machine shop at 13 Mul- falling from fashion. Albert N. Pettengill The earliest Fowler Gem. like all Bill- berry Street in Newark. Their first fishing (1837 to 1903) recognizetl this division of inghurst reels, lacked a click mechanism. reel was a primitive-looking side-mount taste, ancl in early 1887, hc patented and It was possible to tighten thecenter screw model that became known as the Ama- released to the general public his Mo- on both of these reels in order to produce teur."ugust F. Meisselbach received hawk reel. The Mohawk was a nickcl- a drag effect, but this technique was far LJnited States patent no. 336,657 on Feb- plated brass reel, 3 inches in diameter and from satisfactory. By 1875, Fowler adver- ruary 23, 1886. The patent described a with an internal click mechanism. It tised in Forest and Strenm that he was horizontally mounted reel composed of lacked somr of the refinements of Meis- improving the Gem, and although the little more than two sheet-metal side selbach's Amateur, yet owed much to it in exact nature of his improvement is not plates pinned togcthcr to forrn a spool, terms of general configuration and style. spelled out, it now seems clear that he which turned an upright axle. The side Pettengill, a toolmaker and sometime added a click mechanism to his reels that plates were ventilated to allow the line to gunsnlith of Ilion, New York, designed year. The latest year I have found the dry; but unlike the simple circular perfo- the rrel so that it coultl be usecl, in his Gem advertised is 1882.2 rations used by Fowler and Clinton, words, as "either a side reel or a top reel." Dr. Fowler spent his last years practic- Meisselbach used stylish, petal-shaped Ry this Pettengill prrsumably meant that ing dentistry in Ithaca, New York. In fact, cutouts to ventilate his reels. He mav the nnglrr could exercise an option with a he had moved to Ithaca in 1875 before his have been the first Amer~canreelmaLer to single rrc.1-at least this is the suggestion improved Gem was marketed. It is possi- use this flower motif. The Amateur was of the patent-yet in practice his rrrls ble that Charles M. Clinton (1834 to 1909) not as primitive as it might have seemed. werr mani~facturedeither as side rc~clsor met him during this period. Clinton was For instance, there was a counterweight top reels at the n~antcfacturer'sdiscretion. a well-known inventor and longtime res- on the spool, which funct~onedto make The side-mount style was designatrd ident of Ithaca. He is remembered pri- the reel's bearings wear in an even rnodrl no. 2 ancl thr top-mount style was marily for the Clinton sewing machine manner and allowed for smooth opera- rnotlel no. 3. Pettengill's Mohawk rcr%ls and the Peerless typewriter. He also had tion while surrendering line to a running werr markctl in several ways. Somctirnc~s many lesser inventions: he designed all fish. It also had either a depressabledrag- the word Mohawk and the model nurnl)er the tools used in the Ithaca Calendar lever brake or an exterior click mecha- appeared on the foot. Often, "April 26, Clock Company; he patented a marine nism that provided further control over 87" was stamped in very small char-actel-s calendar clock, a self-dumping horse the angler's line. The early click mecha- on the frame. Occasionally Pettengill's rake, a vegetable slicer, a railroad indica- nism used by Meisselbach suffered the name was stamped in the center of the tor, a grain binder, an indicator for water same shortcoming as Fowler's: the line reel. meters; and he improved grain mills and sometimes caught between the pawl and By the turn of the century, the goltlen many dental appliances. He is known to rachet. Meisselbach's click was one of the age of the, side-mount fly reel had come to have assisted many fellow inventors in earlier adjustablr clicks, however, ancl if an end. After 1900, Carlton Manufactur- perfecting their ideas. Some collectors the angler so chose, the pawl could be ing Conil~any,Rochcstcr Reel Company, and historians have speculated that Cllin- disengaged to create a free-running Goyle Reel Company, and Bronson Reel ton helped Fowler improve the Gem reel spool. Company all manufactured sidc-mount and then made additional improvements The Amateur was an inexpensive, fly reels, but these were all inexpensive of his own that were incorporated into nickel-plated brass reel made in large copies of earlier designs. the Clinton fishing-reel patent of October quantities until 1920. It camein two sizes, Rut the story tloes not end here. Elmcr 29, 1889. While we may never know for 3 inches and 2% inches, and with either J. "Doc" Sellers (1861 to ?) of Kutztown, sure whether Clinton workedwith Fowler the depressable drag lever or an exterior Pennsylvania, was granted a IJnitrcl on improving the Gem, there is little click mechanism. There were a total of States patent for his invention called the doubt that the Clinton reel bears an four side-mount models: no. 2, 3 inches "Basket reel." 'This birdcage-style reel uncanny likeness to the Fowler Gem, with drag; no. 3, 3 inches with click; no. resembled the Billinghurst reel, and it is which indicates a considerable familiar- 8, 2% inches with drag; and no. 11, 2% described in admirably straightforward ity with the Fowler product. inches with click. While the drag-lever fashion in Sellers's patent of February 13, The Clinton reel differed from the models were made until 1920, the click 1934: Fowler Gem in several respects. First, it versions were made only until circa 1895.4 was constructed of nickel silver. (Some By the late 1880s, the top- or vertically This invention relates to a fly cast- had nickel-plated aluminum spools to mounted reel seems to have become the ing basket reel, the general object help reduce weight.) Second, it had an reel of choice for most annlers. It was of the invention being to prov~de internal mechanism instead of an exter- easier to play a fish from a top-mounted means whereby the line can be very nal gear like that of the Gem, which reel, and although it is difficult to say rapidly wound upon the reel and when so wound, will cluickly dry :IS adding the click asst~mblyto ;in exisling it is rxl~osedto the air ant1 sunlight inventory of rrrls to suit c-ktstomcr :uid also to provitlea reel which Iirs prefrrmrc ant1 porkrthook? It's an unsolvrtl close to the pole and occupic,s hut mystcry rh;~tnl;rkrs ~)rrrisrtl;~ting of Fowler little space so that it can 1)c~c;rrric.tl rcels most tliffirult. in the 110ckct of thr user. 3. Thr original motlrl nanlr of the Amateur was C;ogrhir. This n;tnle WEIS us~l St~IIerswas a 1,harrn;rc.ist who operatcstl almost rxc-lusivrly for thr first few ycars the. rrrl was ;~vail;~hle(1885 to 1888). I tlon'l a tlrrrgstore in Kutztown. Like marly know what thr word means, wl~rrrir tr)rnrs small-town store ownrrs, hr c.;trrirtl a from. or how it is pronoun(-rtl. When thr witlr variety of rncrc-hantlise, inclirtling I. 'I'hc~rcremains ronsitlrrahlr and morr c~sl,rnsivrrsprrt srrirs of Meissc-lharh somcs sporting goods, ;rntl in latc.r yrars, justifial)lr tlcl):rrc~on this point. C:c~-tainly rrrls wtarr introtluc-rtl(1888 ;rntl 1889). thr his own Basket rc~~l.Some old-time rcasi- thrrr wrrv multiplying rtrls ~,atrntctlin C;ogrhir I)rc.amc- kno\vn as th(, Amatcur ant1 dents of Kutztown still rmmni1)c.r set*itig A1nc.1-ic.aprior to RillingI~~~~-st'stlrsign (Sohn cr)ntit~urtlro hr callrtl thr Amateur until Doc Sellrrs's Baskrt I-erl displayc~tlin his A. Railry, 1856, ;mtl Etlw;lrtl Drac-on, 1857). aho~~t1920, whrn it w;rs tlropl,rd from store window on Main Street. Srllers's which c-oultl 11;tvc. brrn usetl in srnallrr sizrs ~)rocluc~ion.Tl~r motlrl namcs wrrr ncvrr reel was not merely a loc.;rl l~hc~lomenon; I)y fly fishrrrnrn of thr ~)rricnI.Intlretl, thr ;~c.tuallymarkrtl on the- Gogrl)ic-/Aln;~trur rcrls, r;rthrr thrrr was ~tsuallyst;rmpc*tl on it was advertised nationally in thcSport- trrm Jly rrrl secrns to h;ivr (.om(%;rl)out I;rtrr in thr ninrtrrnth century. Prior to this ~irnc thr lac-(-of thr slml tht, following three irzg (hod.$1)rnlpr until at least 1947. ;II Icilst, most rrrls wcrcs usctl for any piltrnt tl;ltes: "Frh 23 - 86, Nov 2.3 - 86, Frh 5 - Srllers must have known of the Bill- ~)rrl)osc"thrir ownrrs saw fit. C;rnrr;tlly 89." An early rcbrl m;ly havr only the first, inghurst rcel, for tlir Baskt31 rerl appca;~rs sl)r;~king,howcvrr, thrsr r;trly rnultil)lying 01- thr first two tl;~trs.;inti a vrry urly to have been a c~oriscio~rsattcbrnl,t to rcrls tlcvrlopcul into wh;~twe nowr t-cfcr to ;IS A~n;~tc~ut-wo~~ltl likrly I)c rnarkrtl "Pat Ap'ltl iniprove Billinghurst's tlesign. 'I'lir small I)ait-c.;rsting rrcls, whrrc;~sHillingh~rrst's For." I havr oc.c.;~sion;rllyscrn them entirely wootlrn handle of the, Baskrt rerl foltlt~l rrrl-ligl~tweight, ;lnd will1 a singlr-at.tio~~. unsignc~tl;is wrll. tightly against thr 11otly ol thc r(sc31(just c.ont~;~c-rc~tlsl,ool-tlcvclo1)rcl into t hr 4. .I'lltb tl;~tit~gof thrsr rrcls is an likt, the Billinghurst) so that "it can I)(, rnotlcrn fly reel. tarnpiric.al rnattcr-a puz~lingottt of Ixrtcnt inforn~;~tiorl;mtl ;~tlvc-rtising.Frw click mrrirrl in the 11oc.kct of the usc~.".I'lie 2. Thr I882 Al)l)t.y ;mtl Imhrir c.;italog lists only t llr irnl)rovrtl tnotlrl (C;CITI) with \.ersions of thr i\rn;~tt.rtrtverr ;~tlvrrtisrtlsftrr Sellers handle, however, had a sol)histi- c.lit.k,ant1 it is trtnl)ting to think th;lt after 1895. It srrms tli;~rwhrn Mrissrlhac-h cated locking mechanism. so thtb hantllr 1875, Fowlt8rno longer 1)rotluc-ctl thc earlier ;~l)l)lirtlin .July 1895 for wh;~two~~ld brt.omr did not foltl in at an inol)port~~nc.tno- nonc.lic-k vc*rsion of his rrcl. Rrc.cnt ly, thr J;lnu;lry 1.1. 1896, p;~trnt,thry rctlrsignrd ment as sornetimc.~tlid hap per^ with thc howcvrr, ;In undntrd I)ro;~tlsitlrsr~rk~cctl, I)y thrir 1,lic.k rccls so th;u tllr ~.atc.hrrgc';rr was Billitlghurst. Also. Seller's recl had an Fowlrr ;~nd'T'istIrI. tl~rttllrows this sitnatrd on thr Ixrrk of thr rcu.1. 'I'hrrr is no adj~tstahleon-off click tnec.h;~nisni,which c.otlc.lusion into tlouht. It ;~clvrrtistrl"Dr. n.;lson why this tr)ultl not h;lvr c-arrirtl tht. earlier reel lackrd. It is intrresting to Fowlrr-'s h;~rtl~-ul)l)c~r reel, with or \c,itliout througll to thr Amarrur set-ics of t-c>cls,hu~ note that thr click I~itttonwas locatrci (.lick." 'l'hr c.lic.k rrrls aoltl 101. $1.25 ant1 ;~l)parrntlyit tlitl not. 1't~h;tps in ortlrr to kcrp thr A~n;~tc-urselling ;IS inrsl,rnsivcly as exactly opl,osite the handle, where it $,1.75 (tlrprntling on si~v),and tllc 11ont.1it.k r(,t.Is soltl for orlr tloll;~rless. Iutlging hy ~)ossil)lc.Mrissrlh;rc-h W;IS I-ornmittctlto coultl also serve as a couriterwcight. *The this, there was ;I 1)criotl of ovcrI;r~)of c-lid rlinlitl;~ting n~;~nr~lac.ru~ing steps I-rscrvrtl Basket reel hati ;In attractive agatr line ;~ntlnonc-lick ~notlrls.Rut for hour long? for his mores cxl)rnsivr Exprrt. Fc;tthrrlight. guidt. to help pt-event thc fly line from ITrre thr c;irlirr unirnl)t-ovt-clrnotlrls hcing ;lntl Alllight scbricss of rccls. Rut for wh;~trvrr l~ecotningtlarnagtd. Antl finally, thca ribs tlisc.ountctl ill ortlrr to rcnlovr them from rc;lson. It-on1 al)l~oxiti~atcly1895, thr of the Sellcrs reel were not inctivitlually stotk r~~tirtzly?Or. \v;ts Fowler 111rrcIy AIII;II~II~I)rc.:r~nr ;I no11c.1it.kred. soldered to form thr spool but were cast or pressed in a solid piece and then machined out to reduce weight. This resulteti in a lighter-weight rcel that was For Further Reading: sturdier and more tlurablr. The Sellers Readers may wish to examine in more detail the patents cited in this article. Basket recl is believed to have been made Copies can be ordered from the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, DC in only one size: 3%inches diameter and 4 20231, at a cost of one dollar each. Rtquests must include the patent number: ounces, in either natural or chrome- platecl brass. Some examples are fully Billinghurst, William Rochester, NY August 9, 1859 no. 24,987 signed with Sellers's name, place, ant1 Fowler, Alonzo H. Batavia, NY June 18. 1872 no. 128,137 patent numbrr, whilr others lack these Mei.sselbarh, Augt~stF. Newark. NJ February 23. 1886 no. 336,657 markings. This is one recl that is so tlis- Pt,ttengill, Albert N. Ilion, NY April 26,1887 no. 361,890 tinctive, there shoultl t)e few pro1)lrrns in C:linton, Charles M. Ithaca. NY October 29, 1889 no. 413,774 itlentificatior~eveti if the rcc-l is ~~nsigntd. Scllt.rs, Elnicr J. Kut~town,PA February 13, 1934 no. 1,947,141 To tht. motlerti rye, cert:~inly, these side-tnount rc~lsmust seem to 11r otltl or even awkward creations, 1)oorly suitrtl to Ack~iowletlgments: the practical nc.etls of al~glrrs.Yrt thry I would like to thank the following 1)eo11Its and institutions for their help IX~SS'S~I~~~nt~iistakal)le c.harn~, if or~lyas with this projr.ct: Ho+q C(:arrnic.hael;Rita Daly :uitl Jane Sl~ellman.Hcrkimer remintlers of an earlic*ragc: Evr11 though C(:our~tyHistorical Society; Bill Holbein; Allari I.iu; Gunther Pohl, New York history had Icvied a harsh vc't.tlic-t on tht. I'ul)lic 12il)raryLocal IIistory ant1 C;cxnc,alogy Division; Rosc~ln:trieRice, utility arid rfl'ic.ic.ncy of this style of reel, Tompkins County Pul)lic. I.il)l.;rry; Stt~v(~Smith; D;IV(-Stein; H. J.Swinney, wtS ~tio~tltl~-vc.ogni~c~ t11;rt tli(- taflorts of Margrc.1 Wootll)~rryStrong Musc.urn; atltl Craig Williams, Dc~witt1Iistorical tlicse highly skillod invc'ntors ant1 c.ralts- Socicsty of .I'o~nl)kinsC:oun:y. men resultetl ir~o1)jec.t~ t1i;tt t-c.flt.c.t ;I Pot- ,\IIIZ ~~~OZIIII'.~/)r(711ot~v (.ot1trit11t~io11 to tllt, AIII~~~I.;IIIFly Fisl~rr, .srp "Jnmrs ,I. 1 Louis Rhead's First Career by Lynn Scholz WPrrc~etttly published a checklist of artirl~.~by 1-o1~i.sKIzead that appenred in Forcs~and Strram (see tlle Americiin Fly Fishcr, r'o/. 10, 110. 2). lY/li/e in llle pro- CP.S.Sof prrpnritlg t1ri.s li.st, zoe ctranc~edto mak~/he nc quaint- arzce of Lyt111Srhol:, iolro i.s rzirrrt~tly zuritirzg n book-lengttr biogrnplrs on The; HISTORY of Kkead, which .she 1zopr.s lo 11nrje filth- lislred in t1w z~~rvtl~ar futl~rr. LVP ZLJPYP * OVERSEA 1%) \'\ I1 I I \\I !I( i The History of Over Sea, 1902, According to a farnily anecdote, wr was R head's last fully decorated book have a wife's jealousy ro thank for Louis done in the style of Wzllzam Morrzs. Rhead's intere5t in fishing, an intere5t Courtesy of Lzbrary of Congress that burgeoned in the latter half of his life. A head taller than her husband and seven years his senior, Catherine Rhead is ria, one of the six early townships that ren attended their father's art classes at said to have been jealous of the comely now comprise Stoke-on-Trent. The area night, ant1 by their teens, they were also models who routinely posed for her continues to be the center of the British holding jobs at the potteries. Such an artist-husband during the 1890s. So, as ceramic industry, as it has bern sincr the early transition from chil(1hootl'src~lative the story goes, she did all she could to seventeenth century. It was a matter of freedom to the discipline of indirstry did encourage him to get out of the studio course that local children would work in not come easily for Louis. Regular and on to the streams.' At the time, Rhead the ceramic industry, most at tortuoi~sor impoundments in the studio were re- was one of three American poster artists even dangerous jobs that were associated quired in order to compel him to produce most in demand during a period when with working the clay and tending the the designs that woulcl satisfy his father.5 advertising posters could be seen in every enormous kiln fires. Only the most gifted Whether a testament to his father's shop window and collecting them was a might escape these hardships and attain improving financial situation or to some veritable craze. During his career, he the respected, and far safer, positions of special talent, Louis was sent to Paris in managed to blend his skills in art with a china painter, china gilder, or artist. 1872 to study with theartist Gustavt-Bou- love of fishing, much to the benefit of Louis was the third of eleven children langer, with whom he studied for three those who share his love of angling, its of George Woolliscroft Rhead antl Fanny years and where he learned how to draw art, and its literature. Colley Rhead. Both were from self-made the human figure. Only thirteen when he Today Rhead is well known to scholars families. Little is known of Fanny's fam- left for Paris and, he confessed, still more of turn-of-the-century decorative art.2 ily, but George's family operated potter- inclined to play than to work."e re- Portions of his work are usually included ies in the area for three generations and turned home at sixteen morc. mature and in published studies of the decorative introduced significant, new techno1o.q better prepared for a life of serious busi- arts, but nowhere, to our knowledge, has for the ceramic industry.~Georgechoseto ness. The order of the day was the same as the entire body of his work been recorded work as a ceramic artist. On his marriage that for his brothers: enrollment in night as a whole. It is unfortunate that of certificate, dated 1854, he recordcd his age art classes and a daytime job ;at Minton's, Rhead's artistic accomplishments, his as twenty-two and his profession ;IS china where Louis worked as a china painter.7 angling art seems to have been ignored as gilder, a highly specialized craft for one This arduous schedule was not unusual a subject for serious scholarship. It is by so young. It involved the appliratiorl of for art-inclined workers. For th? Rhead far his most decorative, and it seems to gold leaf to ceramic pieces in their final children, however, the regimen served the embody the most creative pleasure; some stage of production. He practiced at a larger purpose of preparing them for consider it to be his best. Now, almost number of potteries antl rose to the high- admission to the National Art Training sixty years after his death, I would like to est position in the profession, that of School in South Kensington. Lontlon, place his angling art in proper perspec- ceramic artist. In addition, during the reputed to be the best school in England tive within the broader context of his 1870s, he taught night classes in tlrsign for an applied-arts education. Each year entire body of artwork and in relation to and drawing to aspiring day laborers :it forty paying students were atlmitted. as the world into which he was born. several of the area's schools for scic-ncr well as from twelve to fiftren students Louis John Rhead was born in Eng- and art training.' with full scholarships awarded by the land on November 6, 1858, at the height In the industrial communities, the government to regional winners of a of Britain's industrial revolution. He was work ethic was instilled early. From national omp petition.^ 1,oiris competed born in Staffordshire in the town of Etru- about the age of eight, all theRheadchild- unsuccessfully for one of these srholar- (left) Inspired by the mediez~alsubject matter, Rhead modified his children's book style (see illustration at far right) for this urork and returned temporarily to his Morrisonian .style of twenty-three years earlier. (below) Rhead often signed his posters with this decoration. (near right) The sin of "Cursing" form the Life and Death of Mr. Badman, published in London Ln 1900. His books of this period dealt with moral or religious subjects. (far right) A typical example of the style Rhead employed in illustrating children's books. The illustration is from Harper's 1914 edition of Hans Anderson's Fairy Tales. ships in each of the three years following croft were both painters and ceramic vating and indulging their tastes.I2 his return from Paris. artists about whom less is known. The During two of these three years, life Rhead children were, in short, far more Had the Rheads arrived at South Ken- proceeded smoothly enough for Louis. than mere survivors. sington any earlier in the school's his- But in 1877, his brother Frederick was The break with his first childhood torv., , thev would have found a verv fired from Minton's for taking art mate- employer in 1878 marked the final stage limited curriculum that could only have rials home from work. The indiscretion in Louis's early education. By the spring prepared them for a return to the confines came to light when Fred won a pri~ein of 1879, he had won a scholarship to of pottery factories. But by this time, the the national art competition for a plate South Kensington, and in the fall he distinction between the 'fine' arts of the decorated at home with ashilling's worth matriculated, joining his brother George, academy, and the 'decorative' arts of of secretly folmulated clays that Minton who had won a full scholarship the year industry had completely lost its rele- used in their superb p&te-sur-p'itepie~es.~ before. The school records from 1879 to vance. When the Rheads attended South In their pique with Fred, Minton's also 1881 confirm that both Rheads were Kensington, the faculty of the school had fired Louis (in 1878) on a trumped-up exceptional students-particularly Lou- been thoroughly infiltrated by some no- charge.I0 After leaving Minton's the boys is, who won the school's highest annual table English and French artists. The art easily secured new employment with award each of his two years there, as well director at the time was the successful Minton's chief rival, the Wedgwood Pot- as a number of national competition neoclassical painter Edward Poynter, tery. Fred was already recognired for his prizes. who was later knighted and elected presi- extraordinary artistic talent; in add~tion, The Rheads could not have been in dent of the Royal Academy. Jules Dalou, he brought to Wedgwood knowledge of London studying the decorative arts at a the French sculptor, was on the faculty, several of Minton's most closely guartlecl more exciting and propitious time. as was his countryman Alphonse Legros, ceramic techniques. Throughout England, older ideas about an etcher.I3 Also associated with the Of the eleven Rhead children, most of art were now being seriously challenged. school was William Morris,14 who for the nine who survived infancv followed New theories, new critics, and new design almost twenty years had been setting the their father to become artists and five groups abounded; the period saw the cul- standards for "modern" design and achieved considerable renown. The eld- mination of attempts to define a new aes- "good taste" in furnishings, fabrics, and est, George Woolliscroft, war a well- thetic appropriate for the industrial wallpapers. known painter and etcher in London, world. Louis and George were in London In the spring of 1881, when he finished who became associated with Ford Mad- at the height of what has been called "the at South Kensington, Louis went to dox Brown and other Pre-Raphaelite aesthetic movement," about which one Devon for a summer of sketching and painters;" Frederick Alfred remained in contemporary magazine of this period painting. On his return, he studied inde- Staffordshire to become an outstanding declared: pendently, working up his sketches into ceramic artist and art director, author of paintings. He may have also taken pri- several books, novels, and even operas, as There has never been since the vate lessons with Frederick Leighton,l5 well as an accomplished illustrator; world began an age in which peo- then president of the Royal Academy. Louis John emigrated to America, where ple thought, talked, wrote and During this time, he supported himself he concentrated on the book arts; and spent such inordinant sums of with piecework ceramic decoration for Alice Maud Mary and Fanny Woollis- money and hours of time in culti- his former employers, the Wedgwoods. OF MR. BADMAN C I' I< S I N (; I. h. ,,,"11 ,,,",,,". "1 I., , ... ,, , .. ..I, ....8 ., .,, ,, 1," ..,,," .,.I., ., 1, ,", ,.,."1,,., ..,,I.,.o ..., 1,,,,, "1.,,1. ,",..i. ,".,,, ,..'..,,.,,., ..~1,,.,'..,,,...,,.,,.,. 8 ....8. I,,. .",....,., ,,...,, .,,,. I.. I .,,.. 1. ..,. . I: 88, They were able to enticca him back to the all day long the tide of battle rolls, and Though much of his work in this period Staffordshire plant only brirfly in 1882.16 the result of his strenuous endeavour is was a throwback to student days, he did Apparently, a career in the potteries, cvcm success."ls Certainly to his former coun- make valuable contacts in the publishing as a distinguished artist, was not what he trymen, he seemed totally acclimatized; community that substantially affected had in mind. In fact, he was planning to the eminent British art critic Gleeson the future course of his career in America. completr his art studics in Rome, when White wistfully wrote that Rhead "has Notices of his work started to appear reg- the London representzitivr of the New caught.. . a mood of enterprise which is ularly during 1887, just before he Irft York publishing house of D. Applcton peculiarly American, and has dared to Appleton's to set out on his own. In that offered him the position of art tlirector in e~periment."'~It is amusing to note that year he joined the Grolier Club, a new, New York City. Despite his rcluc-tancv to a number of interviewers (who could not but prestigious, association of bookmen delay studies in Rome, the pl.ospcLc.tof have been aware of the work of Freud or and the best imaginable source of con- working for one of Amt,ric.a's largcst pub- Adler) associated his drive with his physi- tacts for future business. His designs for lishers was .sr~fficirntlytempting. In the cal stature, which could hardly escape the bindings of several books, executed by fall of 1883, zit the age of twenty-four, notice; one reported that he was "some- the New York bookbinder William Mat- Rhead ernbarked for Ncaw York City. what below the medium size,"20 a gener- thews, earned him a good deal of atten- In 1884, within a year of his arrival, he ous statement indeed, as he was barely ti~n,~~as did his regular submissions of married Catherine Bogart Yates, the over five feet tall. interior decorations to the annual exhib- widow of a medical student from a Rhead worked at D. Appleton for six its of the Architectural League of New wealthy Schenectady family. The fringe years, but apparently the anonymity and York, beginning in 1888. In the same benefits of his marriage were American limitations of in-house artist did not year, Rhead's decorations for needlework citizenship, a young stepson, Stephen satisfy him. From his first years in New projects and paint-it-yourself ceramics Yates, and what appeared to he an ample York, he developed an active private prac- appeared in almost every issue of the Art means with which to establish himself in tice, supported by the momentum of the Interchange, a New York weekly. Also in a new country. The Brooklyn Bridge had "aesthetic movement," which had Amer- 1888, William Evarts Benjamin's short- just opened, and the Rheads settled in ica as much in its grip as it did England. lived periodical the Book Lol~erap- across the river in what was then called Reinforcing his desire to promote his pri- peared.25 From the first issue, it sported a Flatbush. They lived on Ocean Avenue. vate artwork was the loss of his wife's Louis Rhead cover design and frequent overlooking Prospect Park, and remained inheritance at the hands of dishonest illustrations of Rhead's latest bookplate there for forty years. executor^;^^ he no longer had the option designs that were available for purchase Rhead's inherent enterprise must have of getting established at a more leisurely through the magazine. Bookplate design facilitated his adjustment to America. He pace. was a successful sideline for Rhead until had, after all, achieved a great deal just to By his own account, Rhead's earliest well into the 1900s. He was considered get to New York, and his animated per- American work consisted of articles on one of the country's best bookplate sonality suggested a resolve to go even household design for various New York designers during this period, and in 1907 further. By one account he had "a quick, and Boston rnagazine~.~~He also exhi- a small volume dedicated to his work was nervous, but very pleasant manner of bited paintings at such local shows as published in Boston.26 speaking,"l7 and another reported that he those of the Brooklyn Art Association At the close of the 1880s, America made was "of the tireless type: where he is, there and the National Academy of Design.Z3 a tentative entree into what is called the poster period of the 1890s. The period for some years been in existence in Paris Grasset's posters to Rhead was the use of started quietly with a few publishing has now made its appearance in New the idealized, neoclassic figures-fully houses (led by Harper Brothers) that rec- York."ZR clothed and engaged in more thoughtful ognized the advertising effectiveness of Although Rhead regarded the show a pursuits. Thus, in June 1895, Rheadpub- the colored posters of France. In 1889, financial failure, it catapulted him to the lished an article entitled "The Moral Rhead landed two American poster com- forefront of poster artists in America. In Aspect of the Poster." He also launcheda missions. He did not, however, anticipate November 1895, Rhead won the gold series of lectures that spoke against lewd- the commercial potential of this rela- medal for the best American poster ness in poster art. He preached that poster tively new poster art, and in 1890 he left design at the first international poster artists had a moral responsibility "to with his family to live and work in Paris. show, held in Boston. At the same show, make men and women think of lifeasnot How long he had intended to stay is the gold medal for best foreign design a silly dream but as earnest and sub- unknown, but after seeing a major show was presented to Rhead's inspirator, He felt that the mass appeal of of posters by the French artist Eugene Eugene Grasset. posters necessitated this special responsi- Grasset, he returned to New York with For the next two and a half years, every bility:32 great excitement. Grasset's work was major city in the Western world-as well highly decorative and suggested new as minor ones-organized poster shows potential for posters as an art form. in which Rhead's work was prominent. In thousands of the homes of the Rhead said he emerged from the April He was given three one-man shows in poor these posters are the only pic- Salon deCents show "an entirely changed Europe: in London, at the St. Bride's tures they have to adorn their man."27 He hurried to finish all his cur- Foundation Institute in 1896 and 1897; dwellings, and even in well-to-do rent projects, and by June 1894, he was and in Paris, at the Salon des Cents in households young men and women back in New York. 1897. In response to the Paris show, the preserve what they call a pretty girl Thus began the most successful period French art journal La Plumecommented and hang it up in their den or in Rhead's career. Within twenty-four that Rhead's posters could be surpassed chamber. hours of his return, he had sold a poster by those of no other artist, including design, and in the six months remaining France's three most popular: Cheret, in 1894, he produced more than ninety Grasset, or Lautrec.29 While these sentiments may sound pa- posters, most of which sold readily to Posters appealed to Rhead as much for tronizing and naive to modern ears, they such magazines as Harper's Bazaar, Har- their moral potential as for their aesthetic were perfectly reasonable for their day. per's Magazine, St. Nichola.~,Century qualities. One art historian explains: "It They were from Rhead's upbringing, the Magazine, Ladies' Home Journal, and is not surprising that [Rhead] succumbed echoes of the evangelical art critic John Scribner's Magazine. By January 1895, to the spell of Gasset. Both men had deep Ruskin and of the designer-turned- his first ,major exhibition opened at the roots in the art and philosophy of the socialist William Morris, who thought Wunderlich (now named Kennedy) Gal- Pre-Raphaelites and both were motivated that the quality of life could be improved lery in New York. It was the first one-man by strong ethical considerations."30 In through art. poster show ever held in America, and it the 1880s, color advertising posters had Related to these moral convictions was created quite a stlr. 'The Crztic com- been synonymous with gay, often bawdy, Rhead's passion to share his special skills mented: "The artistic poster which has scenes of Paris nightlife. The appeal of and opinions on all aspects of contem- (left) Two examples of bookplates that were designed by Louis Rhead. Shir-Cliff's bookplate combines the style of Rhead's book illustrations with that of his posters. (below) A particularly charming self-portrait of Rhead from Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales, 1914 (right) Rhead always took great care when designing decorations for angling-related publications. porary aesthetic life This was evidenced small publishing houses, those with aes- years, was bought by Harper Brothers in by Rhead's production of a steady stream thetic asperations, commissioned much 1903. Rhead illustrated many of Harper's of how-to articles and letters to the editor. work with The Brothers Rhead, as the var- popular children's books and adjusted Initially, these may have served the pur- ious combinations of Louis and his two his style to one less decorative. Between pose of self-promotion, but even long brothers were popularly called. Their 1902 and Rhead's death in 1926, sixteen of after he was well established, he con- first fully decorated books were pub- Harper Brothers's popular Juvenile Ser- tinued to publish his comments in a vari- lished in 1898: with George W. Rhead ies had Rhead illustrations, and for ety of publ~cations.He appears to have and Stephen Yates, Louis illustrated an Robin Hood he also wrote the te~t.~6The been motivated by generosity and a R. H. Russell edition of Tennyson's Swiss Family Robinson, Gullir~er'.rTrau- genuine belief that people might benef~t Idylls of the Kzng; and all three brothers els, Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Heidi, from his ideas. illustrated the Century Company's A Pzl- and The Deerslayer were among the The intense demand for new poster grzm's Progress. Louis illustrated six books he illustrated in this series. designs from publishers, manufacturers, more books published before 1903. Of At forty-three years of age (in 1901), and collectors could not be sustained these, the three most ambitious and beau- Rhead became interested in angling art. forever, and by the end of 1897 the fren~y tiful also involved the brothers: with It is not known if he began fishing as a of the poster craLe had substantially sub- George, The Lzfe and Death of Mr. Bad- child in England, but Rhead has written sided. Rhead then turned his attention to man and William Morris's Hzstory of that he first started fly-fishing for trout book illustration. The period of illustra- Ouer Sea; and with Fred, Robznson Cru- between 1888 and 1890.37 LJntil 1900, tive work that followed must have been a ~oe.~~All his illustrated books in this when a small news item appeared in a very pleasurable time for Rhead, for he period shared historical or moral themes, Chicago art journal reporting that Rhead was then reunited in work with his broth- and all were influenced by William Mor- was in Canada sketching land-locked sal- ers George and Frederick for the first time ris's Kelmscott Press style. Morris's book m~n,~~however, there is no evidence that since leaving England. Family relation- style was characterized by embellished he associated his new recreation with his ships were very important to Rhead. He initials, heavy type derived from medie- livelihood. The outcome of this excursion maintained contact with his family val calligraphy and early printing type- was Rhead's first exhibition of fishing through frequent visits to England. He faces, wide border decorations encom- subjects, entitled The Fighting Ouana- appears to have been very fond of child- passing the text, and numerous flat illus- niche, which was held at the Frederick ren, and relatives who might otherwise trations in which line, as opposed to Keppel Gallery in New York in January have been too young to remember the shaded volume, was the chief element. 1901 (exactly six years after his moment- occasional visitor, recall "Uncle Lou" The style is reminiscent of medieval ous New York poster show). From what vividly and with warm feel~ng.Rhead manuscripts, German woodcuts, and must have been an uncertain foray to developed an especially warm relation- early printed books.35 determine whether he could sell paint- ship with his stepson, Stephen Yates Soon after 1900, style shifted away from ings with angling subjects, he took off, (Rhead and his wife never had children of such highly decorated books, and many once again, into this new work with the their own). When Stephen was fourteen, of the smaller publishers of the 1890s dis- "full-tilt" enthusiasm that characterized Rhead sent him to Paris to train as an appeared because they could not compete all of his ventures. In the last twenty-six artist.33 with large firms. R. H. Russell, who had years of his life, in addition to producing Between 1898 and 1902 a number of used Rhead for five books in as many steadily for Harper's, he contributed an Obituary from the New York Tirnc~s, Rhead 7on.s .succr.s.sful in tlrr end, hr jztzlrtrilr c.ln.s.sic:s (S7oi.s.s Fnnrily Ho0in.ron. Friday, Jtily 30, 1926 Orcnmr rxhausted. A short tinlr later irr (~tilli7~rr.(;rinrnr, ,.l~rder.so?rand o1lrrr.s). suffrrrd from hi.s first nttnek of heart Flr nlso zt1rotr 11rrec~11orr Ira~rd-nlarlr1urr.s diseasr. Ye.strrday'.s zoas thr srcond. nnd flies for gnmr ant1 Ji.slring, contri- Mr. Ritead urns born in F;trurin, Ert*q- 0rrli1~~lo ~~rrir.spcr/)rr.s and nlaga-.7~~~~.s, LOCIIS RHEAI), ARTIST land in 1857 [1858], and rrcri7~rdhis qnd zt1n.s Irinz.srlf (111 in~~r~rtorof stich AND ANC;I.I:K, DEAD training at the SozctIi Krn.sirtgtorz School, c.o?rlriiln~rr.es. F~xIi~t~~.strdIircrrztly by I.o~tg 120ndon.H i.s fnthrr, Grorgr Wolli~t.seroft 111 rr(.rnt yrnr.s 1111. HIIP~(Ihad i111c.s- Strzc~gglr171 Capturing a lihrad, wn.7 n ufrll-kr1o7~~1tartist, and trtltori a II(,ZO hook for cIiiltlY(~nnrrrrzcnlly. 30-Pound Turtlr. Louis Rhrnd's P~PI~PTIbrothrrs rind .sistrr.s Ia(~.st[,'/I risl III(~.S /I i.s .si.sorrzt!i 711n.s f)t.eb- wrrr also nr1i.st.s. One of thm, GrorLgr, li.s/rrrl /)y IInrprr LY Rrotltcrs, Coofirr'.~ ILLCISTKATEI) MANY BOOKS ach irzled fnmr for it is slninrd-glass 711 in- "I>rrr.sIr~yrr."011r of 1Irr cirilrlrrta'.~books dozus. in llrr IClrrnrl .srrir.s Ire rorotr lrim.srlf, A Prolific Writrr or2 Angling nrrd an Made Namr as Illustmtor. "1iobi11Iloorl." Slrrrzt1ood Forrsl, scrrtr 1?17~rr1torof I,zirr.s for (;ame With his brothrr Frederick, Louis of Iiol~i~rIIood'.~ rsp1oil.s. is not far from and Fish. Rhrad came to this country irt 1883 to Hltrnd'.~boylroorl lron~r.Alr. Klirnrl nOo beconzr art managrr for D. Appleton iL. rt1rotr .srzrrr(~lrl(10orntr rt1ork.v on angling. Louis Rhmd, artist and arzglrr, died Co., pzib1i.sher.s. Soon thr brotlrrrs Fi.slrrd From IIis Brrck Door. .sziddr?rly of hrart di.sra.se rnrly yesterday acizirz~rdstanding as il11i.stmtor.s of books For years Iris nrlificinl fisliing bait \ins at his ltonzr in Amityzlillr, I,. I. and magnzinrs, doing a nzirnbrr of finr Ore~rri.srd all o71rr 11rr cororlry by ang1rr.s. Too much rxrrtion is hrlir71rd by rw1umr.s logrllrrr tcnctrr the nnnzr, "The Tzclo yr(1r.s ngo Irr /)ought n.rntallproprrty Stepitrn Yntrs of Srtnuket, I,, I., .strpson Rrothrrs Rhrnd." I,oz~i.s Rhrad also at dr~~ityi~illr~,dmi~lrcl it .scirr~tific.nllyfor of Mr. lihrnd, to hazw brozc,ght about his painted in oil and wntar color.^, rxhibit- nngli~r,q/~ztrf)o.sns nnrl crrntrd n .srrir.s of drnth. Abozct two wrrks ago Mr. Rhrad ing in Amrrican and Europran gallrrirs. poo1.s nnrl a strrtlr~r,.sloc,king tlirnl zoitlr .srt out to catch a turtle weighing thirty Hr rrcriz~dn gold mrdal in Bo.ston in lroltt. Ilc fislrrtl nlr~aostlitrrnlly from hi.s pounds urhicli had brrn d~rja.statin,qtrout 1895 for artistic posters, nrtd n gold mrdnl back door lo tlrr tir~rrof hi.s drnth. ponds on 111s plac~,Snwn 0ak.s. Aftrr thr at thr St. Louis E.~positio?t,1904. Fun~rnl.scrr~ic.r.szt1ill I)(, held on Szordny turtlr ums Irookrd, it ptct tip a fight for Mr. Rhrad de~~otrdpart of his timr to at 3:30 1'. Al., in Sl. i\lary'.s Epi.sc.opn1 morr than half an hozcr. Altliotigh Mr. illustrating tlre I-ouis Rizead srrirs of [,'It ~tr(.lr,,.I III ityi~ill~. extraordinary amount to the know-how, lished in 1916. This book discussed the KNDNO'I'ES: art, and literature of American angling. results of his seven seasons of fishing in Even a summary of the highlights of the Catskills, where he collected and stu- I. M;iriot~1';itcs Ciro~kcrt, it~tcrvic~v;it l~cr angling works is impressive in its scope. died the insects that constitute the major Ilornc, Scl)t~-i~:l)er1982. 2. l)r,c,orrt!irtr or NI)~)I~CIIit1.1 is 11csig11t11;it In 1902, the year after the Keppel show, part of a trout's diet. It included accurate is ~)twclyorn;imcntal or 111;ir ctili;tnc.cs items Rhead's first angling book, ThrSpeckled color illustrations ol these insects (taken of cvcrytl;iy use. 'I'lic trrn:s ;ire also al)l)lirtl Brook Trout, was published. It was pro- from his paintings). It was America's first to ;I Ilost of ;trts (or c.rrt!!s) consitlrrctl less duced by his favorite publisher, R. H. angling entomology. c-rc;~tivc11:;iri ~111.11 tr;~tlitioi:al,ii~.;~clct~iit. ;I~I Russell, whose record of aesthetic contri- Years of studying the habitats of sport for111s;IS l);lit~tit:g[)I- st tiIl)t~~rc(oftct~ t.;~llctl butions to American publishing assured fish combined with his training in art to ill(^ ;1rt). the book a high, if not the highest, place lead him into entrepreneurial activities, 3. C;l~ris\V;ttki~~s. \ViIli;i~i~ kI;irvcy, ;IIICI among the most beautiful books in at which he became quite proficient. He Kol~crtSI-II~I, 7'/r(, Slrr~lloy Po//rrios: Tlrr American angling literature. Rhead con- designed and manufactured flies and lIi.s/ory (1n(1l'ro~l~ic!iot~ 01 a .S!o!!or~/.v/tirr, Fnrnily 01 I'o/!c,,:v (1.011tlon:Harl-ic ;inti tributed several chapters to the book, as lures, which he sold from his home and lci:kirls. I!)XO), 25. IIr~.c;il'tcrrcferrctl to ;I$ well as being its editor, illustrator, and through the New York City tackle firm of .S /trllr~ll'o!!rrir>,v. artistic director. Three years later, his William Mills and Sons, who continued .I. 1nl'ol.ni;ition;tI)out the loc.;~Isc.liools of second book was released: Thr Bassr.~, to sell them until the 1940s. He wrote ;irt \\,;IS I'o~lntluntlcr r11c Scirl:c.c ;lntl Art Fresh- Water and Marine (a sequel to The about his lures in his last book, Fisher- Dt.l);irri~wntof the (:ommittec of the Speckled Brook Trout, and the second of man's Lures and Game Fish Food, pub- <:ounc.il.oil Etluc.;ition's (;c,rtrrol Kr,gi.v!cr, what he hoped would be a series-all lished in 1920. His business lineexpanded Nrrt~c~rrs!l~.S!rr!jord.slrrr~. S(,ltool o/ /Ir/ with the same high standards for beauty to include custom taxidermy and the sale (187.1-1878) alitl aiit:ttal reports 01' s;imta and information). Again, Rhead was the of hand-tied gut bait-casting rigs. When (I.ol~tlo~i:v;lrious years). 5. ~\rthurStctlrnan. "I.ouis Khratl. editor and illustrator; the major part of he "retired" to Amityville, Long Island, Mctl;llist. Rt,ing ;I Short Ac.tr)u~~tof this the text was written by WilliamC. Harris at the end of 1924, he built on his prop- Kc~n;~rk;~l)lcDcc.or;~tivc tist." st." I'os/rr I.orr. and Tarleton Bean, with ancillary chap- erty a series of ponds for the rearing of 2 (FcI)ri~:iryI89fi), 42-.lfi. F1crc:tftcr rt-fc-rrctl ters by Rhead and James Cruikshank. trout. He then offered, in addition to cus- ro ;IS I.JK. Also in 1905, he won another gold tom paintings of fish, "expert advice on Ilnlcss othcr\visc notctl. I)iogt.;~l)hic.;il medal, this time at the Louisiana Pur- how to acquire, construct and maintain a 111atcri;ilis fou~:tlin this ;ir:tl two otl:cr chase Exposition in St. Louis for a series private trout preserve for pleasure or sot1rtr.s ;tlltl \\,ill riot I)t. c.itctl fu~the~.:W. If. of fish paintings that were included in profit.39 Shir-(:liff."Somc.tl:ing of Rhc~;icl,"Ex the exhibit in the Palace of Forestry, Fish Rhead died suddenly on July 29, 1926; I.iOris, 1 (1\1)ril 18!)7),33-255. IIc*rc;~ftt*r rcfcrrc(l to ;is SOR; ;III(I A ~~011~~~~1i011of and Game. In 1907 and 1908 he wrote two he had suffered a massive heart attack Boolc I'ln!~1)csi~n.s by I.o~ci.s Hhrn(1 more books on fishing: Bait Angling for brought on by a lengthy struggle with an (Kosto~::W. 1'. 'l'r~~cs~lcll,1907). Common Fishes and The Book of Fish enormous thirty-pound snapping turtle 6. "l'ic~ure<;;illcry of rhc Streets. ;I '1';ilk and Fishing. His most ambitious work, that had taken up residence in one of his \vitl~;I 1)csigner of/\rt Posrcrs," IiI(,.s!ttritr.v!rr American Trout Stream insect.^, was pub- trout ponds. R~tcl,~y,!(111nc 26, 18I)fi),5. Rhead's own bookplate. It wmoccm~onally pr~nted on b~rrlrbark and was included In Danzel Fear~ng'rcollect~on of anqling bookplate.^ that was e~li~h~tedal tlir (;rolzer Club in 1911. Author's note: This article marks the midpoint of research on a biography of Louis J. Rhead and a catalog of his art, writings, and "inventions." Much research lies ahead, the most ilifficult ol which will hr locating additional material. My task will be greatly facilitated if rratlers will share with me the locations of letters, original art, and othrr uniquc Rhead material. I can be reached at 5410 Macomb Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20016; telephone 202-966-7555. Lynn Scholz is an az~idfly fisher u~hohas .spent the major portion of the last four years researching the life of Louis Rhmd. She is a former member of the board of directors of Trout Unlimited and i.s currentlv involved in restoring and renoz~atingher home in Washington, DC. She holds a masters degree in architecture from the Zlni~~ersityof Pennsy luania. 7. Thr Grnrral Kr,pi.strr, Nrzocnstlr E:lizal)eth Aslirl. T11rAr.stlrrtic hlorvmrtr! 1.orii.s Hlrr.(ttl (Roslon: \1'. P. 'I'turstlell. School o/ A rt (1875-76). (Nrw York: Exc;tlil)~trBooks, 10XI), IS. 1907). 8. For inform;~tionabout the National A:t IS. 1,ouis J. Rhr;ctl. "'I'hr Inclustrial Arts 27. SINIIIIIIII.I.JK. 45. Training School in South Kensington, anti in Atnerica," IVorld's Cl'ork. 7 (Novr1n1w.r 28. T/I(,(:ri!i(., no. 675 (J:tntt:try 2(i, 1895). national awards to art students, see the 1903). 1426. 70. annual reports of the Srirnce ant1 Art 1.1. Tltr Tzcrrtrty-Sistlr Rrpor! o/ !lrr 29. I,(! I'l~ittrf,,7 (01,toI)rrISM), ,158. Departnient of the C:ommittc~e of the Scir?t(.f3ntlrl Art Ilrpnrlnrrn! o/ !/I(, .30. Etlqtr Krcitcnl);~c.l~."A Brief I Iistory." Council on Etluwtion (Lontlon: 1875-1881). Conttt~ittr(,oJ tlrr Coiinr.11otr b::'rllcc.n!iotr Tho ilttrr*ric.rrrr1'o.rtc.r (Ntw York: 01-101)er 9. Watkins, et al., Tlir Shrll(y l'otterir.~,26. (Lontlon: 1879). 541. I lottse, l!)(i7). 12. In pfitr-.sur-p2lr decoration, the design is 15. Strtltnatl, l.JK, 4.3. 31. 1.ouis 1. Kh~ttl."'l'lir Moral i2spec.t of painted onto a tk~rklycoloretl grountl in 16. 1.ettc.r~fro111 I.ouis Rheatl to C;otlfrey IIW I'OSIVI," Tlrr I~ool~ttrotr.I (June I 895), 314. suctrssive layers, using a fine tlilute of whitr Wetlgwootl. 1881 - 1882, 'I'lie Wetlgwood K2. 1l)itl.. :$12. clay. Images on lhr surface stancl in bas- At-chives, Ilnivrrsity of Keclr, Kerlcs, 93. M;trion Y~ttrs(:roc.kett, in~ervie~~.see relief as successive layers of clay accumulate. Staffordshire. note I. The ground color shows through the 17. Stctlm;ui, IJR,47. 5.1. .johtl Hun\;tn. Tltr I.iJr ntrcl 1)~rrtlr(J/ translucent china clay in proportion to thr 18. Sllur-C:liff. SOK, 113. illr. B~ttltrrnrt(1.011clon: \1'. 1lrinetn;tnn. builtlup. Extremely detailecl :ttitl sul)tle 19. C;lreson White. "The Postcrs of I.c~uis 1900); 1I:tnirl Ilrfot,, 7.1101.iJr nt1(1.Y!r(r~t,qr images can thus be created. Rhr;td," Thr Studio, 8 (August 1896), 158. ,.I~T~(~II~II~P.Yoj 1~0I~itt.sot1 C~IISOC (New York: 10. Ibid., 49. 20. Strtlman. LJK, 47. K. 11. Kussell. 1!)00); ;tntl \2'illiar11 Morris. 11. The Pre-Raphaelite Brothrrhood was 21. Marion Yatrs C:rockett. intervirw. see Tlrr IIi.s!ory o/ 0rv.r Srrr (Nw York: K. H. formecl in 1848 hy three young art stutlents: note I. K ussel I. 1902). Dantr Gabriel Kossetti. William Holmar 22. L.etter, Louis J. Khratl to thr catlitor of 35. For ;I tr)rnpletr tlist.ussiotl of the style Hunt, and John Millais. Their ))act was a Ifnrprr's B(r;nnr, tl;ltrtl Novembtsr 12. 1888. ;ultl furtl~rrrs;tml)lrs of Khrad's Ijook protrsst against the currrnt British art ant1 Al1)ert Duvren Collrc.tion, Arc.hivrs of tlt,sixn. see Suha11 Olis 'I'ho~nl)son,iltrr(~ricnrz against their ;~cadrn~ictraining. They were Arnel-ic.;ln At-t, Smi111soni;un Instittltion, Rook l)eviiqtr ntrtl Il'illirrrrr A1orri.s (New inspired by the ~>rrachingsof the youns art Washington. DC. York ant1 1.ontlon: K. K. Bowkrr C:o~nl)any, critic John Ruskin, who ernphasizt~tltli;~~ art 23. C:l;~rk S. M;trlor, il 1Ii.story of !lrr 1077). shoultl be drawn from nature, rr-c.orcled in Brooklyrr rl rl A.rsoc.irr!io?z(New York: 1970) S(i. I.otlis J. Khr;ttl, Nold Robitr IIoorl kaithful detail, and hat thr sul)jrcts of art 512; ant1 Maria Naylor. Thr Nnliorrnl crtrtl Ills Orrlln~c~Bntrtl: Tlrrir Fntr1ori.s should express personal moral I)rlief. Their /Icadrmy 01 1~r.sigtrI.:.slril~iliot~ Kccord 1,WI- I:'.s/~loi!.sin Sllrrrc~oorlForcsl (Nnv York work combined realism ancl symbolism ant1 19/10 (New York: Krrlnrtly Callt~ric~sInc., ;~ntlI.ontlon: I1;trl)t.r Rc Rro~hrrs,1912). was rharacterized by strong rnor;tl "storirs" 1973). 781. 57. I.ouis J. Kh~ttl."Brst Flies for Brook and extrtxmely bright, clear colors. 'I'heir 24. Krantlrr Mat~hc%ws,Book/~itldiri,q Old 'I'ro11t." O~t!itr,q'47 (M;trc.h 1906). 808; ;~lso,a work constit~ttedonc of the few tlistinc-tive and Nrzo: Notes oJ n Book I~or~rr,r~~itlr at1 It,tte~-front 1,ouis Khr;~tlto D;ulirI I;r;n.ing. styles in nineteenth-~.~nturyBritish rl(.ro~ort(I/ tlrr Groli~r(;/rib (1,ontlon and tl;tletl Dec-. "2, 1915 (Fv;tring C;ollec.tion. paintii~g,most of which was ch;tr;tcterizctl New York: C;. Brll Rc Sons. 1896). 1,13. 1.45. 11o11gI1tonl.il)~-itry, H;trv;tr(I ~Inivrrhity). by neoclassical or history painting. See 25. Tlrr Booklor~rr,publishetl in New 38. Acl\~r~.tisingDrlxtr~tnc.nt, Brrc.slr (~tr(l Quentin Bell. A Nrro and Noble Sclrool York I)y William Evarts Benjamin. It r;tn l'rt~c.il(A~wil or May 1900). 19. (London: MacDonald, 1982). from Novrrnbrr of 1888 lo J;inu;lry 1890. YO. Atlver~isrtnrt~tin Fores! nncl Sfrrntt~ 12. Furniture Gn:rttr, 1876, ;is cl~~otrclin 26. Collrc.!iorz oJ Bookplnte 1Icsigtr.s by (i\ugust I!)"), 501. Books Notes A Summer on the Test by John Waller H111s. Reprint of 1930 edition: Nick Lyons Books/Winthrster Press/Anclre Deutsch, 1983, paptxtback, 271 pages (illustrated), $9.95 Where thr Rri.eht Wntrr.~Merl by Hary ~lunket-~reene.Reprint of 1924 edition: Nick Lyons Books/ Winchester PressIAndre Deutsch, 1983, paperback, 210 pages (illustratetl), $9.95 The British chalk streams must hold various problems well enough to prom- the record for waters that have been heard ise some better fishing in the future. Editor's Note of by more people, yrt fished by fewer Plunket-Greene occupies much of the Some members will no doubt remem- than any other trout strrams in thc.world. hook fishing other waters in Great Bri- ber when it was hoped to have the Federa- We are constantly confrontecl, in the tain and Europe and telling nice stories tion and the Museum join in building a angling press, with references to them. So about fishing companions and singing facility in West Yellowstone. For those much happened on them, so many au- experiences (he was a famous performer who missed earlier reports, in 1983 the thors developed their dual crafts of writ- in his time). Museum's officers deemed the West Yel- ing and angling along them, that our debt Hills is, of course, fairly well known lowstone location impractical for a year- to these little streams is huge. For those to American readers for his historical round museum operation and decided who find that much of their rnjoymcnt of st~rdieson angling. A Summer on the the Museum would provide the Federa- fishing is vicarious anyway, it's harrlly of Test, also first published in 1924, exam- tion with representative exhibits in the great significance whether they will ever ines the seasons of the river in great new facility, rather than establish head- fish the Test or the Itchen. They rspecial- detail, recounting the capture (and, bless quarters there. Word from West Yellow- ly-but by no meansrxcl~rsively-will be his heart, escape) of scores of trout. There stone is that all werevery pleased with the grateful for the re-p~rblication,in the for- is much about hatches, water conditions, high quality of the Museum's exhibit mat of affordable paprrbacks, of Wherr flies to use, and the like. As in any good there last summer. Congratulations are the Bright Waters Meet and A Szcmmrr on fishing book, there is a lot of talk of the in order to the leadership and member- the Test. puzzles of hard fishing: fish in difficult ship of the Federation on the opening of Though they arc indeed minor classics, positions, insects that seem unsuscepti- their impressive new center, a major step I doubt that a great many American ble to imitation, quirky currents that foil in their growth. Both the present achieve- anglers will want to wade through either the best presentations. This is all good ment and the future realization of exhibit of these books all at once. I am constantly fun, but I wish Hills had resisted the potential will benefit the fly-fishingcom- reminded, while reatling them, of the old temptation, in 1930, to add seven chap- munity as a whole. saw about Americans and Englanders ters to the second edition; the celebration being people "divided by a common lan- was long enough in 1924. But I suppose guage." Readers not already familiar the serious chalk-stream angler, or the with differences in language may strug- most hopeful chalk-stream dreamer, will gle now and then to maintain interest. be grateful for as much of this material as Vicarious fishing, to be enjoyed, must can be had. relate to our own experiences, and in Both Plunket-Greene and Hills have these books the parade of unrccognizable wit and a disarming forthrightness about plants, unfamiliar fly patterns (Orange their own mistakes; after reading the Quill, Sherry Spinner. Houghton Ruby. cxploits of America's super-anglers for a Yellow Boy, etc.), and other things that few years, one feels disoriented by famous make British fishing diffrrent will be too fishermtw who make this many mistakes. much for some readers. Both books have introductions by Both are hospitable, chatty books. Antony Atha. I did not find them espe- Plunket-Greene's book, first published cially ~rsefrrl,either for information or in 1924, is more or less about a tributary interpretation. I'm suspicious of intro- of the Test called the Bourne. He is a ductions that quote the book they intro- cheery, engaging writer who lets on duce and seem to have little information Corrigenda immediately that he is in no hurry to that I will not later find in the text. Both Some apologies are in order. In the instruct or get to any particular conclu- Plunket-Greene and Hills are historic American Fly Fisher, vol. 11, no. 3, we sion. It is alarming to have the riverine enough to require some introduction: incorrectly referred to Dorothy McNeilly hero of the book, the Bourne, killed off when they lived, what they did besides as Charles Lanman's grandniece. She is, early on; it is as clisroncerting as if Louis fish, what they are thought to have con- in fact, Lanman's great-grandniece. In vol. 11, no. 4, p. 19, weinadvertently gave L'Amour killed off one of his cowboy tributed, and so on. the date of the first edition of Norris's heroes on page seven and left the other But the important thing is that the American Angler's Book as 1867. The characters to wander along for three books are back, readily available for those correct date is 1864. On page 21 of the hundred pages trying to gct by as best who have only heard of them up to now. same issue, George Perkins Marsh's they can. The Bourne is resurrrcted some- Let's hope for more of these reprints. 5 name was incorrectly given as George what at the end, though, recovering from -PAUL SCHULLERY Perkins March. 5 and Commer required it to meet such a very narrow cious cast made just above the ris- definition. It was left to Americans to ing fish, and the fly allowed to float develop and popularize most of the other -towards and over them, and the types of floating flies, (minnows, bugs, chances are ten toone that it will be animal-hair flies, andsoon) that fish also seized as readily as the livinginsect. feed on. Because I saw the Shields expe- rience on the Bitterroot as an example of Hills then comments: "This is the ear- a practical angler making his fly float liest mention I know of the intentional (rather than as an example of a well-read drying of the fly." angler self-consciously mimicking Hal- But John, that's not what he said, is it? ford), I was careful to refer to the flies as As Mr. Bark points out (and as Jack Hed- floating flies rather than dry flies. don has noted elsewhere in discussing On the other hand, as I pointed out in early fly lines), it is line, not the fly, that is "On Gordon's Ghost," a good many being dried here. Pulman is doing what American anglers were aware of Hal- he did in the 1841 edition: putting on a Letters to the Editor ford's writings, and his flies were com- fresh dry fly. With a fresh dry fly, what Paul Schullery rrsponds to Conrad mercially available in this country in the need is there to dry it out anyway? He I'oss Bark's lrttrr that appeared inz~ol.11, 1880s. well before Gordon supposedly then says that we should dry our line by no. 4, of the American Fly Fisher. brought them to the New World. Mr. false-casting (to use the modern term) a Bark is absolutely right in saying that few times. To the Editor: Americans were fishing floating flies Hills put it in print, and since then I'm aware of Jack Heddon's writings long before Gordon began to write, and it countless authors, some of them very on the evolution of the floating fly/dry is also true that they were fishing Hal- good, have slavishly repeated it. But it fly (I referred to them in my articleon the fordian dry flies before Gordon, as well. just isn't there. Pulman is not talking Bitterroot episode), and I appreciate Mr. Both William Mills and Orvis were sel- about drying the fly with false casts. It Bark's additional comments on the sub- ling Halford-style dry flies in the late wouldn't surprise me if he did so, but he ject. My own attempts toshow that North 1880s. doesn't say he did. Americans were intentionally floating I would also like to take this opportun- But that's not all that bothers about the artificial flies have appeared in several ity to reconsider G. P. R. Pulman's fa- credit given Pulman. I'm bothered that articles, most notably "On C;ordon's mous remark that is reputed to be the first we assume he did it first just because he Ghost," in Iiod iL. lir~l,July/Octoher. complete description of fishing the dry wrote it first. We assume too much, 1982. fly. It is the one point on which I most t~ecause,as Mr. Bark points out, earlier As Mr. Bark points out, there is a disagree with Mr. Bark's note. writers were floating their flies also. difference-or rather sevc~raldiffermccs- John Waller Hills, in A History ofFly Because they (lid not give detailed ac- between making a fly float and creatinga Fiskirag for Trout (1921), is probably counts of the process, are we allowed to dry fly in the modern clefinition. I dis- most responsible for current disregard of assume thay were too dim-witted to see cussed this briefly in the article on thr all pre-1800 references to floating flies the obvious value of false-casting? Bitterroot and more thoroicghly else- and is certainly most responsible for Moreover, Hills and later writers most where. I think. however. that thedefini- establishing Pulman as the first to fully likely read their own definitions into tion is an artificial ant1 sometimes re- describe the dry fly. Pulman's first edi- Pulman's description. He used the words stricting philosophical construct that tion of the Vade Mrcum of Fly Fishingfor dry fly, but he did not necessarily mean may cause us to underestimate the signif- Trout (1841) contained the following anything as formal as we do today. If he icance of pre-Marryat/Halford atternpts passage: said use an old fly, or a small fly, or an to float flies. Indeed, Halforcl and hiscro- ugly fly, we would not assume the words nies uerfected most of the rnoclrrn flv- If the wet and heavy fly be ex- had special meaning. Yet we assume that tying technique for dry flies, in part changed for a dry and light one, he said dry fly with the same concept in because their equipment permittctl them and passed in artist-like style over mind that we have now. That is an to do so, as Mr. Bark notes, when such the feeding fish, it will, partly from unwarrentetl assumption, but it's typical advances would have been impossible or the simple circumstances of its of the backward, incautious way the his- much more difficult in earlier times. buoyancy, be taken, in nine cases tory of fly-fishing has been approached. I That does not mean that earlier genera- out of ten. don't think Pulman considered dry fly a tions of anglers were somehow lower term when he said it. I think he consid- forms of human beings because they Hills found this almost gooood enough ered it a noun with an adjective. I think made their flies float by other means. to meet his Halfordian standard of what that's rlrar from the first edition, where Halford apparently waxted to think so. makes a dry- fly, but not quite. It larked the two words are not even combined. The important point, I think, in any what he called the "finishing torrch." As So there it is. My thanks to Mr. Bark for discussion of the history of floating flies, near as I can gather from his discussion, inspiring this outburst. I have read other is that for centuries obsrrvant anglers the finishing touch was the intentional of his writings and enjoyed them very have realized that fish do intlred feed on clrying of the fly. He found that touch in much. flies that are either partly or mostly pok- the third edition (1851) of Pulman, where Paul Schullery ing out of the water, and have further the following passage is found. Read this Livingston, Montana endeavored to imitate those flies by mus- carefully; very few people have: ing their artificials to float. I think it P.S. I would also recommend that Mr. could be argued that Halford and his Let adry fly besubstitutedfor the Bark read Ken Cameron's excellent anal- crowd, for all their refinements, actually wet one, the line switched a few ysis of early floating flies, "The Dry Fly had a limiting effect on the overall pro- times through the air to throw off and Fast Trains." from the American Fly gress of the floating fly because they its superabundant moisture, a judi- Fisher, vol. 10, no. 1. Join the Museum Museum News Membership Dues: Associate $ 20 Sustaining $ 30 Patron $ 100 Sponsor $ 250 Life $1000 Membership includes a subscription to the American Fly Fisher. Please send your application to the membership secretary and include your mailing address. The Museum is a member of the American Association of Museums and the American Association for State and Local History. We are a nonprofit, educational institution chartered under the laws of the state of Vermont. Support the Museum As an independent, nonprofit institution, A .sampling from our recently acquired Cushner Collection The American Museum of Fly Fishing must rely on the generosity of public- spirited individuals for substantial support. We ask that you give tional material, framing it all with his our institution serious consideration Museum Acquires incomparable skill. when planning for gifts and bequests. Original art-such as an Atherton tem- Cushner Collection pera painting-or reproductions-such During the mid-1970s, one of the most as a signed Pleissner dry point-are celebrated and widely shown collections framed along with original flies by both Back Issues of the of fly-fishing memorabilia was that put nineteenth-century and modern masters. American Fly Fisher together by William Cushner, a profes- Gordon, La Branche, Hewitt, Flick, sional framer who then lived in Manhat- Darbee-the list reads like a cross section The following back issues are tan. Much to the dismay of many Amer- of American fly-fishing history. The available at $4.00 per copy: ican fly fishers, in 1978Cushner moved to collection consists of two hundred and Nova Scotia with his collection. We are sixteen such framings, plus a variety of Volume 5, Numbers 3 and 4 delighted to report that, through a long- unframed inventory, including two fly- Volume 6, Numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 term option-purchase agreement, the tying vises reputed to have been used by Volume 7, Numbers 2, 3 and 4 Museum has acquired this collection Theodore Gordon. Volume 8, Numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 lock, stock, and hackles. It is without Of special interest to us is that this question the largest and one of the most collection fits so well into our evolving Volume 9, Numbers 1, 2 and 3 significant additions to our collection in National Exhibit Program. It's possible, Volume 10, Numbers 1, 2 and 3 our seventeen-year history. and immediately practical, to display Volume 11, Numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 In the late 1960s, Cushner wasworking thirty pieces here, forty pieces there, and as a professional framer in his Lower sixty pieces somewhere else, as we in- West Side studio. His clients included a creasingly seek to broaden our exhibition number of prominent artists, major mag- activity around thecountry. Sixty of these azines, and advertisting agencies. He also framings were displayed in Seattle dur- The was then-as now-involved in making ing February in a showing sponsored by three-dimensional constructions for wall Eddie Bauer, which company is also American hanging. As fine art, his constructions sponsoring a San Francisco showing in were exhibited in New York's Whitney early March. And, of course, highlights Museum Museum and elsewhere. With the encour- from this collection are also a feature at agement of such anglers as Herman our Manchester galleries. of Kessler and Charles DeFeo, Cushner We'll have more information for you became intrigued with framing historic on our Cushner Collection in a subse- Fly Fishing flies and artwork together-three-dimen- quent issue, as well as other exciting sionally. Word of his fine, growing col- news on recent acquisitions. Meanwhile, Post Office Box 42 lection spread, attracting material from members and guests are encouraged to Manchester other fly and art collections to his studio. visit us in Manchester to view this Vermont 05254 Cushner also traded for or bought addi- extraordinary work. Say Cheese I\'(- 11;tvc forrntl tI1;tt ollcb of tht, c.ulty is tli;tt tht~~)c.rmission prorcsss soltlcS- c.nhanc.cx thcs Museum's pcsrrrlancntitpho- most tliffic.r~lt tasks yo~trt,tlitol.s tirncss takrs tnotitlis. 111 ortlrr to li('ll) togra1)Ii c'ollrc.tioti. So, wlirri you get a kt(.(*iri 1~ty):tring;II~ issue of th(, rt.c.tify this situ;~tiotl.'c\lr wo~rltllike to Inomrnt, c-1irc.k that oltl ;tttir trunk, thr /Ir~~rrir~ci~rFly Fi.vltc~r is fititlitlg otllist the, help of ottr rcsatlers. Srlicl 11s I)ottotn tlrawcsr of the* tlcsk, or the- family , srtit;tI)lr ill~~stratiotlsfor the arti- yo~lrphotogral)lis! IVt, arc ititt~~-estc.tlin ~)lio~o;1l1)11m for sornrtl~irigth;tt you c,l(*sI~IIVt\.e for ~)~tl)lish. artic-1c.s'l'his tlr;tlirlg ist~sl)t~c~i:tIIy w~itli ~)hotogr;~plis(slitlrs or prints) of fly 111ink 111 igl~tI)(, of i~it(~r(~stto LIS-;II~(~ fisllc.rmt~ri;~ntl ally otli(*rangling-rc.l;ttt~tl sc~ritlit ;tlong. Photographs shor~l(lbr. tlvc.~itic.tli-c.rt1t11ryllli!! fly-Sisliing. In tn:tliy sul)j(~c.ts(rivers, c.;lrnl)s, t;tcklr, cxtt..). 'I'li(-y srnt to tlit~Musoutn, (.arcs of thr rclitor. itist;tlic.rs th(*illrts~ratiorls tvish to usr sliortltl I)(, al>l,rol)ri;ttc*ly tloc.rr1nc~11tc~tl;Thank you for for tlit~sc-artic.lcs ;lr(. c~ol)yriglitc~d,:~ntl th;~tis, tl;~tc.,111;1c.(x, :uiel itlrntity of sul~ yor~rassist;trlcx~ lvhilc ~vc.(.;It1 usu;illy ol)t;lili ~)c*rrriission jt*c.ts sho~~lcll)r irltlic.atc~tl.I2Jc strrss tIi:lt in this vt.ry im- frolii ~)~tl)lislic*rsto 11s~' tllc.st- itcsrns. ofttsrl ~)l~otog,';tl,hsfrom all time ~,rrioclsarc. portant ~)roj(sc.r. .. ,.. the cost is ~)rohil)itivc.A f11rtIit'r (liffi- t~al~ral)lrto us ;~ntlwill rotisidrr;~l)ly