SALMON AND SEA TROUT: HOW TO PROPAGATE, PRESERVE, AND CATCH THEM IN BRITISH WATERS. By the Right Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart., M.P., F.R.S. The Angler's Library Volume IV.

(1898) ND (1905) 2nd edition. Small 8vo (130 x 190mm). Ppxii,272+ 4pp ads. 4 colour plates of salmon flies, b/w plates, ills, top edge gilt. Green decorative cloth. Second issue of the 1905 edition (Routledge's Country Books series): Cloth not embossed but printed in brown and yellow, top edge not gilt.

Principally of interest today are the recipes for salmon flies of that time. Sir Herbert was an ardent fly-tyer: his chapters on flies and fly-dressing are important reference points for modern enthusiasts. He lists the original dressings for such standard classics as the Wilkinson, the Mar Lodge, Dusty Miller and Silver Doctor - but also, in a fairly long list, many less familiar patterns such as the Rory, the Owenmore, the Hell Fire, the Butcher, and more. Sir Herbert's comments are amusing and instructive - the Butcher he calls "A venerable pattern with nothing to recommend it except its antiquity and killing properties, for it is a tiresome fly to dress and an ugly beast to look at." Of the Childers he notes: "Not a favourite of mine, but guilty of thousands of murders." His own flaming scarlet and gold creation, the "Sir Herbert", invented almost in jest to annoy conservative ghillies, he cannot recommend "for this reason, that the hackle lying over the tinsel is very apt to be cut" by a salmon's teeth. Typically practical advice from an experienced fisherman. In addition to the many fascinating details included in the text, are some of Sir Herbert's superb fishing anecdotes. He was one of the wittiest of fishing writers, and well understood the value of interspersing the lessons and information with some entertainment.