Vintage Henry Bew, London, Fly Book w/Flies, Circa 1840

[Ron Gast]

I picked up this interesting fly book that was made by a manufacturer that was unknown to me. Thanks to Hathitrust.org, I was able to find some information. Henry Bew is listed in T.C. Holland's books "The British Angler's Manual" in 1839 and 1841, but not in 1848. Please see the photos below to see the book and the flies that are in it. By the way, Holland's books show all the flies popular at the time and how to make them. Also, notice down towards the bottom of the list of manufacturers, you will see Maria Ustonson.

[Bamboocollector#1]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing Ron!

[Dwight]

Ron, that’s an incredible find. Those flies and hooks are in immaculate condition, not to mention beautiful. Often flies that old are moth-eaten. Are there any Spey patterns in those pages that you’re willing to take shots of? Thanks for posting!

[flyrodman]

Ron, great photos, great find
Richie

[thehersh]

thanks for sharing that with us.

[mdwwhw]

Incredible that it is still intact. Great find.

[Hellmtflies]

Excellent! Very KOOL!

[barebo]

That is spectacular! Amazing that the flies and the coiled gut are in time capsule order so well preserved. What a piece of angling history!

[roycestearns]

Ron this is a fantastic find. This has similarities to the Wm Blacker (London) publications in the 1840's & 50's. Contact Andrew Herd at The Medlar Press (www.medlarpress.com). Andrew along with Dietrich - Troeltsch produced the Blacker Trilogy that documents these types of books produced by the fly manufacturers of the day. Some of these Bew flies appear to be similar patterns to Blacker's. Andrew may have some additional information on Henry Bew

There is significant bug damage on these flies even a couple of pictures show the exoskeletons of a couple of the demons that did the damage. Please get these protected from further damage.

[roycestearns]

Ron, the more I look at these flies, the more they appear to be Wm Blacker flies. If they are, you have a significant treasure in your hand.

I notice that the book is titled " H. Bew. Needle, Fishing Rod & Tackle Manufacturer" Typically a fly tyer/tier, would identify himself as a Fly Maker during this time period in London, as Wm Blacker did in his 1842 and 1843 editions. If H Bew was a needle maker, he was also a hook maker. The history of hook making in Redditch was started around the needle making business.

I'm not an expert on anything, but least of all on European fly tying history (Andrew Herd is). That being said, the documentation that Ive been through, I have yet to find any reference to Bew as a fly maker.

If these are Wm Blacker flies, it is a hundred times bigger deal!

[barebo]

Royce, could you elaborate on the significant bug damage? In the 3rd pic from the top there seems to be something "Buggy" on the tail fibers of the bottom left fly? Not seeing what you are, but not disputing it either.

[roycestearns]

Royce, could you elaborate on the significant bug damage?

Sure,
First fly - the tail, body hackle, throat, GP crest, and a chatterer shoulder have bug damage and there is a what appears to be part of some bug exoskeleton just below the mid point of the fly.
Second fly - notice the body hackle is apparent above the body, but nothing below. The red hackle feathers in the wings have bug damage
Third fly - not so noticeable, however the same pattern on that page has very obvious bug damage in the wing and a bit of bug exoskeleton at the tail.
Fifth fly - out of focus so hard to tell other than the feather fibers that comes off the top are a bit wonky, the sixth fly on that page is also out of focus but the GP crest folded back (probably original tail) looks like it may no longer be attached
Seventh fly - The throat hackle looks damaged and body hackle certainly is. Eighth fly at top right with the broken off snell looks pretty intact, can't see if there was a tail but the throat and body hackles are a good comparison to the seventh fly. The ninth fly bottom right looks pretty good, although it appears the tail is partially gone.
The tenth fly with the missing snell - is out of focus, maybe some body hackle issues and tail damage and the eleventh fly looks pretty intact.
The last picture of five flies is a repeat 5,6,7,8,9.

This being noted does not take away from the significance of these flies, they are a stunning group of 1840's flies.

Another possible source is the Abraham Evatt shop, where Wm Blacker worked for a bit in the late 30's to 1840's. By the way Evatt's shop was a prominent fly shop in London that lasted for quite a while. Evatt is mentioned in both the 1841 and 1848 version of the British Anglers Manual, and Blacker is mentioned in the 1848 version.

Additionally, WM Blacker played a significant part in bringing the traits of the gaudy salmon flies to the market. He had experience with dying/coloring materials and this was the start of exotic feathers from the hat industry being used in flies. So these flies display different species of chatterer, Argus tail feathers, peafowl, parrot, and different GP feathers. The body work with different colors of silk and tinsel are very much Wm Blacker. The shape of the heads at the snells and gut eye, the salmon fly hook shape, the hook point and barbs with hollow ground shape are significant period indicators.

Let's start trying to identify these patterns. Maybe the first fly is a "Tweed 4" ?

Ron, please tell the story behind this find!

[barebo]

Wow, to the untrained/unenlightened eye (mine of course) they look to be in good order. Having the "issues" pointed out I can now see what you were referring to and thank you for that. Your wealth of knowledge is well received.

[Flykuni3]

Wonderful, great find.

[chinookered]

Royce, could you elaborate on the significant bug damage?

Sure,
First fly - the tail, body hackle, throat, GP crest, and a chatterer shoulder have bug damage and there is a what appears to be part of some bug exoskeleton just below the mid point of the fly.
Second fly - notice the body hackle is apparent above the body, but nothing below. The red hackle feathers in the wings have bug damage
Third fly - not so noticeable, however the same pattern on that page has very obvious bug damage in the wing and a bit of bug exoskeleton at the tail.
Fifth fly - out of focus so hard to tell other than the feather fibers that comes off the top are a bit wonky, the sixth fly on that page is also out of focus but the GP crest folded back (probably original tail) looks like it may no longer be attached
Seventh fly - The throat hackle looks damaged and body hackle certainly is. Eighth fly at top right with the broken off snell looks pretty intact, can't see if there was a tail but the throat and body hackles are a good comparison to the seventh fly. The ninth fly bottom right looks pretty good, although it appears the tail is partially gone.
The tenth fly with the missing snell - is out of focus, maybe some body hackle issues and tail damage and the eleventh fly looks pretty intact.
The last picture of five flies is a repeat 5,6,7,8,9.

This being noted does not take away from the significance of these flies, they are a stunning group of 1840's flies.

Another possible source is the Abraham Evatt shop, where Wm Blacker worked for a bit in the late 30's to 1840's. By the way Evatt's shop was a prominent fly shop in London that lasted for quite a while. Evatt is mentioned in both the 1841 and 1848 version of the British Anglers Manual, and Blacker is mentioned in the 1848 version.

Additionally, WM Blacker played a significant part in bringing the traits of the gaudy salmon flies to the market. He had experience with dying/coloring materials and this was the start of exotic feathers from the hat industry being used in flies. So these flies display different species of chatterer, Argus tail feathers, peafowl, parrot, and different GP feathers. The body work with different colors of silk and tinsel are very much Wm Blacker. The shape of the heads at the snells and gut eye, the salmon fly hook shape, the hook point and barbs with hollow ground shape are significant period indicators.

Let's start trying to identify these patterns. Maybe the first fly is a "Tweed 4" ?

Ron, please tell the story behind this find!

Although I am no expert, I highly doubt these are Blacker flies unfortunately. For one, the wings are wrong. Blacker tied his wings using strips from the same side of the feather on both sides of the wing, mixing them randomly and thus both sides would have tips down and tips up slips. It has also been confirmed that Blacker only tied on Phillips Limerick hooks, and only used blued hooks as that's all that was available from Phillips at the time. It's hard to tell from the photos, but it looks like at least a few of these are japanned. I also own a few of these hooks, circa 1840s as well, that have an early type of japanning.

Funnily enough, while doing some quick research, I noticed that another tackle maker by the name of Robert Plumpton also operated out of 19 Newgate Street. A directory from 1842 shows his name listed. I wonder if he was the fly dresser? It may have been him, or maybe John Kirkbride, who dressed flies for the Ustasons in the 1830s and 40s. Or just a random guy who dressed salmon flies, or Mr. Bew himself.

Needless to say, this is an incredible find and the flies are amazing. I'd love to get my hands on it to examine it further. Ron, did this come with any kind of provenance outside of the info from the British Angler's Manual?

[roycestearns]

Although I am no expert, I highly doubt these are Blacker flies unfortunately.

Agreed, however I disagree with some of your points.

thus both sides would have tips down and tips up slips.

You have better eyes than I, I can't make out that detail in these pictures.

It has also been confirmed that Blacker only tied on Phillips Limerick hooks, and only used blued hooks as that's all that was available from Phillips at the time.

"Only" is problematic. This is based on the tipped in flies in the multiple editions of "Art of Angling", It doesn't explain the hook shape on the "picker" plate in the Art of Angling. Nor does it take into account flies Blacker tied before publishing his books. As for blued vs japanned hooks, there are japanned hook flies tipped into the 42 edition.

The small chance these were tied by Wm Blacker or the Evatt shop is worth having a Wm Blacker / Early British fly expert look them over and I hope this can happen.