FLY FISHING BY J.R. HARTLEY: MEMORIES OF ANGLING DAYS.

(1991) 1993 1st U.S. edition. 8vo (145 x 216mm). Pp127. B/w illustrations by Patrick Benson, illustrated end-papers. Blue paper-covered cloth with white cloth spine, red gilt spine titles and fly vignette to upper board.

Deservedly, the most famous British fly fishing autobiography. "Here are his elusive fishing recollections told in a series of sometimes vividly comic chronological cameos - from Yorkshire schooldays in the early 1930's, through memorable outings on chalk stream, spate river and loch, to a startling conclusion half a lifetime later on a Scottish summer night. ...Will appeal to everyone, even [especially?] those who have never held a rod". And all who remember that advert. "In the Yellow Pages TV advert, first shown in 1983, he was seen phoning second-hand bookshops in pursuit of a copy of Fly Fishing by J.R. Hartley. The payoff came when he tracked down a copy, asking for it to be reserved and revealed that he was the author." Daily Mail obituary for Norman Lumsden 30-11-2001. Norman Lumsden played the author in the TV advertisement. It was so popular that writers Russell and Lapsley were commissioned to provide a text for this, up-to-then fictitious, book.