EARLY SCOTTISH ANGLING LITERATURE. By Professor N.W. Simmonds.

1997 1st edition. 8vo (158 x 227mm). Pp256. B/w illustrations from the literature, good bibliography. Green boards, spine titled in gilt.

An interesting discussion of the authors and literature of Scottish angling, up to the end of the twentieth century, including an anthology of 117 short extracts from the works discussed. An interesting read, and a useful guide to what is available. For the bibliographer and the bluffer (I'm sure the author didn't see it that way, but life is short), Simmonds gives some guidance as to content and quality. Professor Norman Willison Simmonds, ScD, AICTA, FIBiol., was a fly-fisherman, geneticist and internationally renowned expert on tropical food crops, particularly the banana. He began his career as a professional agronomist in the tropics but spent the last forty years of his life as an academic in Scotland. There, he applied himself to trout fishing, in between being Director of the Scottish Plant Breeding Institue and a member of the Edinburgh School of Agriculture, amongst many other positions. He wrote numerous books and countless articles, some on fishing, most on the genetics and practicalities of food crops.