Who owned your book?

[cwfly]

Maybe 40 years ago I bought my copy of Henry P. Wells, Fly-Rods and Fly-Tackle[/i] at a used book store somewhere in the greater Beantown area. I not infrequently re-read the book, and it was well read when I acquired it. It bears the name of the bookstore it originally came from, Lauriat's on Washington Street in Boston and in somewhat youthful penmanship the name of the likely first owner of the book. "Otis H. Dana." I decided to find out if this Dana fished. I learned that Otis Henry Dana was a graduate of the Harvard Class of 1907. In the so-called Third Report for the Class of 1907, published after 1912, I found Mr. Dana's report. He was then in the wholesale hardware business in Boston. He wrote, and I quote: Spent one year in graduate school and two years in law school, which place I left because of eye trouble. Since then have spent five months of each year in the woods, trout and salmon fishing. Balance of each year spent in Boston.[/i] Mr. Dana died in December, 1966, and I assume his bookshelves were then emptied. I now understand why it appears well read

[pcg]

Great story.

I have books once owned (& so marked) by Gary Howells, Slyvester Nemes and Ernest Schwiebert. But your story is marvelous.

[Cross Creek]

I have always preferred, when possible, to get old books with previous owners' inscriptions, dedications, etc. I like to imagine the paths they took coming to me, but have never gone to the trouble of tracking down the connections.
-CC

[Eric Peper]

I had the good fortune to purchase (from the man himself) Sparse Grey Hackle's copy of Fly Patterns and Their Origins by Harold Smedley. As it turned out Smedley had relied on Sparse for information on many of the Catskill patterns covered in the book. Sparse had annotated the copy with some priceless commentary on how Smedley had used his input. The commentary is as good as the book itself!

EP

[fishnbanjo]

I have a 1st edition of Joe Bates Atlantic Salmon Book signed by him to an Atlantic Salmon fishing companion with a had tied full Atlantic Salmon Fly by Joe, Sparse Grey Hackle's Fishless Days and Angling Nights, 1st edition, to fellow author, and fisher, Ken Bay, Joe Bates' copy of the 1950 Payne Catalog and a few others..........

[freestoner]

I own a copy of Silk, Fur, and Feather, a small book on fly dressing by "V.C." (G.E. M. Skues' pen name) that was, I kid you not, previously owned by none other than James Jesus Angleton- the "Gray Ghost", former chief of the counter-intelligence section of the CIA, also well-known as a fly fisherman and trout angler.

Unfortunately, the book contains no personal inscriptions or markings. I do however trust the owners of the McLean, VA bookstore Old Books (located in the shopping center on the corner of Old Dominion Drive and Chain Bridge Road) who sold it to me several years ago. I was in there asking about old collectible books related to fishing, and the owner showed me that one. He told me he picked it up at a sale of the J.J. Angleton estate, along with several other books.

Evidently, I got quite a good deal on it, according to the search I just did on Bookfinder.com. It's the original 1950 1st edition, printed by the "Fishing Gazatte"; a small, slim handbook, hardbound with a green pebble finish and rounded corners, with a gold-embossed title.

The owner didn't try to jack up the price at all- in fact, because I bought the book in their sale month of July, I got 10% off of the priced penciled into the book- $125, along with the bookstore owner's notation: "Ex Libris, James Angleton."

[cwfly]

Thanks to all for posting some remarkable and interesting books with some history and a fair amount of celebrity. I have but one other example, albeit modest standing up against what the rest of you have posted. Dorothy Noyes Arms, Fishing Memories[/i], (1938) illustrated by William Schaldach, a book that she dedicated to her husband, John Taylor Arms, an accomplished artist. The book has a warm handwritten and personal inscription from Mrs. Arms to Margaret and John Nason. John Nason (a Maine native) was an artist like John Arms, and Nason had done illustrations for, among other things, Robert Frost's Christmas poems. It reads: To Margaret and John Nason[/i] With whom, some day, we[/i] Hope to share joint fishing memories[/i] Dorothy Noyes Arms[/i]

[Flyman615]

Fellow Bibliophiles:

I have a copy of "A Trout and Salmon Fisherman for Seventy-five Years" by Edward Ringwood Hewitt in DJ which is warmly inscribed:

To Luther Thurber-

If my father had lived, I know what pleasure he would have taken
in autographing this book for Esther's brother and a fellow fishing enthusiast.

Candace Hewitt Stevenson

I found the book at a local library book sale out here in "fly over country"!

Regards,

Flyman

[cwfly]

Mrs. Stevenson's husband, Gordon, was but another artist. One of his watercolors, Catskill Stream, is in the Brooklyn Museum.

[DKS3]

Anyone able to tell me who Jack Kingsley may be? My copy of Dana Lamb's book Woodsmoke and Watercress is inscribed: "For Jack Kingsley with the best of luck Dana S. Lamb Sunken Meadow December 1965"

Any insights welcome.

[mer]

The Complete Fly Tier by Reuben Cross. Owned by James D Crowe (or Crowl). What is interesting about it is the inscription inside:
April 11, 1972. Happy 37th birthday! Among other pleasantries may you have many more days and years of trout fishing. Mom and Dad.

The interesting bits: My birthday is April 10. When James was getting this book, I just turned 11. When I got the book in the mail, I had just turned 40. I found it off abebooks.com, about a dozen showed up in the search, the one I ordered was neither the best nor worst copy, neither the most nor the least expensive.

I have not tried doing any research on James.

[Ken M 44]

Mine would be A Quaint Treatise on 'Flees, and the Art a Artyfichall Flee Making' - editted by W H Aldam from an earlier manuscript and published in 1875. Fly sheet is signed and addressed by F Buckland and the frontice piece is inscribed to 'Frank Buckland Esq. with the Editors kind regards'.
Frank Buckland was Queen Victoria's fish and fisheries 'expert' and carried sufficient weight to leave a foundation in his name ;
Frank Buckland
and also have his brother in law write a book about his life (which I also now own a copy of) ...
This can get like a family tree because the book of his life is signed and custom bound for D B Forman in 1893 and who's address reads simply Boxgrove, Guildford - Boxgrove is now rather more than just a large house (it is a town) - I have not followed up on Mr Forman yet but having ones books custom leather bound and gold blocked with your house name would give you an idea of what has gone before !!
I have a few others of note in the collection that do not come to mind and also some important letters - including a couple from Skues to Sawyer.

[quashnet]

"Ephemera" (Fitzgibbon), Book of the Salmon (1850): with bookplate of Henry P. Siegel, designed by artist/angler Charles DeFeo. A few decades ago, receiving Col. Siegel's catalog of hunting and fishing books was just as important as getting Martin Keane's catalog of rods and reels.

Robert "Barnwell" Roosevelt, Game Fish of the North (1862): signed by its owner John H. Klippart in beautiful copperplate-style handwriting. This is probably the noted 19th-century agriculturist, Secretary of Agriculture for the state of Ohio, known by me to have written at least one essay on fish-culture.

John MacDonald's The Notes and Letters of Theodore Gordon (1947): inscribed by MacDonald to Charles A. Poindexter, probably the noted cardiologist and professor at New York College of Medicine.

Three Paul H. Young catalogs that were owned by PHY's friend, fly tier and author Chauncy K. Lively.

[Eric Peper]

Several years back, I acquired Colonel E. J. Stackpole's personal (unnumbered) copy of the leather bound limited edition of Bill Blades' Fishing Flies and Fly Tying, published by Stackpole, of course. It isn't in great shape but the provenance is indeed fascinating.

EP

[Mainiac]

I have an assortment of books formerly owned by interesting persons. I have made it a niche in my angling book collecting to buy these type of books when available. I have never paid a premium for any of them which makes it even more satisfying.

Highlighting some of my favorite, not necessarily most valuable, finds....

1950 Payne catalog belonging to Eugene Connett. Contains a hand written letter from Tom Collins (VP of Payne Corp) to Mr. Connett.

A assortment of books with Joe Bates book plate

1853 copy of "The Old House by the River" by W.C. Prime. Signed presentation copy to his Mother.

One I let slip by that would have been the pride of my little "famous persons" collection...
A copy of Maine author Bob Elliot's book "All About Brook Trout" signed "To Leon Thomas, the greatest rod maker who ever lived". This book sold at Langs last year. I was supposed to bid on it. It sold while I was sitting in the restaurant eating lunch and lost track of time. If anyone out there owns this book, I'll double what you paid.

[jeffkn1]

I picked up several books, all with Fred's name in them, when Lang's auctioned off items from the Thomas estate a few years back. The book I'd like to have, and one only of regional interest I suppose, was co-written by Fred Barker and John Danforth detailing a winter trapping trip in 1882 and entitled "Trapping and Hunting". I own a copy but the the copy I want is a reference in the library of the Maine Historical Society and it bears the inscription:"To my good friend Henry Wells in memory of all the good times spent in the Maine woods, John Danforth". Danforth built a fishing camp north of Rangeley on Parmacheene Lake. Wells was the designer of the Wells grip and co-designer, along with Danforth, of the Parmacheene Belle fly pattern. Danforth sold his camp to a group of fishermen and it was known from then on as the Parmacheene Club, with Wells as a founding member.

[Ed Pirie]

I am an incorrigible bibliophile and quite content with my flaw to say the least. Anyway, this may have a lot to do with why I am a teacher. Over the years I have accumulated many books with endearing inscriptions from the authors to friends and acquaintenances. In fact, I especially look for volumes so inscribed. My one great thought about this is that often the inscriptions indicate a great fondness and familiarity between the inscriber and the receiver. I know none of us live forever, but I wonder how family can part with these personal and very touching evidences of admiration. These volumes with their provenance mean a great deal to me and I feel like I have been invited to share in some personal aspect of the 's life. I have always bought from reputable dealers, but I sometimes fear that these treasures must have been stolen. I cannot fathom how anyone would part with them otherwise.

Ed Pirie
West Topsham, Vermont

[Aransas.clarks]

I always enjoy coming across an old book with a personal inscription. Last year I purchased a copy of Dana Lamb's Bright Salmon and Brown Trout. Inside I found the following inscription: To our favorite fisherman - Christmas 1966- with love, Mom & Dad. All I know about the owner is that he/she was a fisherman and received a special gift from Mom & Dad.

[Flyman615]

I have another book in my library with an ownership story to tell. It's a 1937 copy in DJ of Eugene V. Connett's, "Any Luck?"
I found it about 15 years ago in a local antique shop.

It's inscribed:
Dick Fort
From Dad
Christmas, 1937

Now here's the interesting part, I met and got to know Mr. Fort in the 1980's before I found his book. We were friendly local adversaries on opposite sides of an ongoing political issue. At the time he was, and is, a retired college professor and environmentalist.

In yet another interesting coincidence, I'll bet our own BlackHillsBill knows Dick too.
Well, Dick, Bill and I do live in a small state, after all.

[LuckyStrikeV]

I purchased this book loooong ago and have always enjoyed paging through it. The Northern Angler seems to be a bound group of newspapers from Sept 3rd1892 to July 15th 1893.

The content is delightful as it allows the reader to travel back in time 117 years. The "Who owned your book" part is another interesting feature. It has a bookplate naming John Arnold as the original owner, and it came with a most delightful Christmas letter gifting the book from a Victoria BC resident to a Miss Rosemary Stewart, December 1936.



I love this book .......... Tight Lines,

LuckyStrikeV