AN ANGLER'S PARADISE: RECOLLECTIONS OF TWENTY YEARS WITH ROD AND LINE IN IRELAND. By F.D. Barker. Flyfisher's Classic Library edition.

(1929) 2000 new edition. 8vo (160 x 240mm). Ppviii,296. B/w map and frontispiece illustration. Bonded leather binding, silk marker. Limited to 950 numbered copies.

Barker describes wonderful days fishing for trout, pike, perch and occasional salmon on Lough Inchiquin (thinly disguised as "Inchicrag") and other waters in the region where he ventured every year from the early 1890s. Barker was an anglicised American, working in London, who loved the Irish West, eventually setting himself up on his favourite lough with acomfortable cottage in what was then a remote and primitive region. Barker's boatman, Patsey, adds much charm to the narrative, from the first day in the boat: "When we were clear of the little bay, but still in shallow water, I asked where I was to begin fishing. Patsey's answer is among our classics. It came as a matter of course - "Where you are, sir; fish away, there's tons of them below you!" The first trout is a beautiful three-pounder - and from that moment the author is hooked, and so is the reader. Barker's easy humorous style, his exciting fishing adventures in pristine waters at their prime and his delight in the local people combine to make this an exceptionally enjoyable work.