FAVORITE FLIES AND THEIR HISTORIES: With many replies from practical anglers to inquiries concerning how, when and where to use them. By Mary Orvis Marbury.

(1892) 2013 facsimile edition. 8vo paperback (152 x 227mm). Ppvi,522. Colour plates of flies, b/w photograph plates, engraved plates.

"Illustrated by thirty-two colored plates of flies, six engravings of natural insects, and eight reproductions of photographs." Mary Orvis Marbury was the daughter of Charles Orvis, founder of the famous American tackle business. She ran the fly-tying department and this book is based on a questionaire sent out to Orvis' customers in the 1890s. "Marbury's compilation of nineteenth-century patterns, fancy flies, and fishing theories led the way in standardizing fly patterns in North America... With information gathered from more than two hundred flyfishers and seasoned anglers across the United States and Canada, Favorite Flies and Their Histories details the stories, histories, and appearances of the most beloved and most successful flies in the sport. Marbury shares stories of over three hundred lake, salmon, trout, and bass flies, divided by their geographic location and accompanied by a list of her fly-fishing correspondents. Her patterns are ornate, often beautiful, and always highly effective." An American classic that should find a place on the tying desk of every serious fly-tyer and indeed any flyfisherman who may be at all interested in the history of the flies we use.