Who owned your book?

An area where you can discuss books about angling, classic tackle, angling literature, your favorite authors, old and new, and any upcoming books you see of interest and of course all the classics as well.

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donaldday
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Re: Who owned your book?

#41

Post by donaldday »

I continuously revel in coming across an antique ee-ebook with a private inscription. Last 365 days I sold a reproduction 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 apprehend about the owner is that he/she changed into a fisherman and acquired a completely unique gift from parents

CMcDowell
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Re: Who owned your book?

#42

Post by CMcDowell »

I picked up a 1951 copy of Claude Kreider's 'The Bamboo Rod and How to Build It' at an antique store several years ago. It was signed by Ed Hartzell. That meant a lot to me.

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tunafart
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Re: Who owned your book?

#43

Post by tunafart »

Good thread, but I fear I may be late to the party...

Second only to stalking wild trout in moving water, I truly love to cast big honkin' streamers to Northern Pike,
especially in springtime Canada, just after ice-off. Slowly prowling the warming shallow lake shorelines with an 8/9 wt
BSF Heddon and watching the greedy rush of the big fish is a thrill I have enjoyed with my brothers for 30+ years now.
But I still search for insights into upping my Pike game.
A couple years back, after the all-to-soon demise of Lefty Kreh (one of my fishing heroes) his family was paring down what must have been a vast repository of his collection, and these two books came on the market: 'Pike on the Fly' was published in 1993, and was followed in 2004 by 'Mastering Pike on the Fly'. Barry Reynolds writes well, and describes many of the tactics it took me twenty years to learn, but also included new tips and insights I came to know and use.

Note that the published intro for both books was contributed by Lefty.
These are the two books from Lefty's own library sent to him by Barry Reynolds as a 'thanks', and inscribed to him as such.
They are today a top-of-my-tying-bench treasure I do hold dear.


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GRASSNGLASS
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Re: Who owned your book?

#44

Post by GRASSNGLASS »

Paul,

When you purchased these books from me I was wondering why a gentleman from S.C. would be buying pike books. This explains it pretty well. I love it when items go to someone who can truly appreciate them.

Regards,
Barry

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bearbutt
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Re: Who owned your book?

#45

Post by bearbutt »

Here's a good one I recently came across. Bergman's "Just Fishing" (1949), signed by Bergman, which he gave to Fred Geist, of the Angler's Club of New York. Geist subsequently gave it to Carl and Bertha Steinhoff, who ran Steinhoff’s in Wilmington—where members of the Green Drake Club gathered—and in turn they gave it to Bill Rawle,who appears to have been a member of the group—and the bunch of people (including Jack Smith and Fran Betters) who signed the book were also members. There's A LOT of trout fishing experience in the signatures on this book, lol.

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RAZINGKANE
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Re: Who owned your book?

#46

Post by RAZINGKANE »

I don't know who owned the book and never will but a few years back I was looking through the shelves at the local thrift store here in Grayling when I spied a paper back copy of "Anatomy of a Murder". Already had a copy, but I'm a bit of a Volker follower since my days back in Marquette in the late 70's. I figured "What the heck, for 50 cents I'll grab it." When I pulled it off the shelf I was stunned to find 10 black and white photos stuck inside taken out side the Marquette County Court House during the filming of the movie with shots of Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, the little dog, all getting out of the cars to go in for the filming, all shot with the old brownie type camera. (As an aside, the court room where they did the filming is the same one my pre-law classes were held on Monday nights when I was a student at Northern Michigan University.) OK, the fishing connection is a bit stretched here, but it's cool, and I keep it locked up in the safe because moments like that on film don't often survive and are oft times tossed by someone who hasn't got a clue as to what they have. It's a miracle that book made it to the thrift store shelf and didn't end up in the trash can.

John

bluesjay
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Re: Who owned your book?

#47

Post by bluesjay »


RAZINGKANE
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Re: Who owned your book?

#48

Post by RAZINGKANE »

Thanks for that Jay. Haven't watched the movie in a while.
I can't count how many times I stumbled out of The Lumberjack way back when. Of course, you take a 20 year old kid and turn him loose in north Marquette County, and well, you can guess the rest. There wasn't one locale in that whole movie (except Gazzara's jail cell) that I didn't know like the back of my hand.
John

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Re: Who owned your book?

#49

Post by bluesjay »

Hi Guys, I have never been there, and only to the UP a couple times. I wish I could go.

Jay Edwards

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richardm
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Re: Who owned your book?

#50

Post by richardm »

First of all, this is a very interesting thread. Thanks for starting it.
The best example of a previously owned fly fishing book that I have is a copy of Dana Lamb's Bright Salmon and Brown trout that is singed by Lamb with a nice inscription to Hoagy Carmichael. It is not dated, but I assume it is to HC Jr. (the fly fisherman/rod maker/author) rather than his composer father.
I will include a picture of the item in this post. Thanks again, richardm


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SalmoNewf
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Re: Who owned your book?

#51

Post by SalmoNewf »

I have quite a few books with inscriptions by the author or by others marking occasions when the books were gifted. The prizes though are firstly, a first edition of Pryce-Tannatt’s “How to Dress Salmon Flies” with the book plate of A.H.E.Wood and with pencilled annotations apparently by him. The second is a copy of Percy Nobbs “Salmon Tactics” presented to the newly appointed (1935) Governor-General of Canada, Lord Tweedsmuir, better known as author and keen fly-fisherman John Buchan.

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cwfly
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Re: Who owned your book?

#52

Post by cwfly »

“And thou, homely little brown thing with worn leaves, yet more precious to me than all jewels of the earth—come, let me take thee from thy shelf and hold thee lovingly in my hands and press thee tenderly to this aged and slow-pulsing heart of mine… soon must we part forever; when I am gone say unto him who next shall have thee to his own that with his latest breath an old man blessed thee!”
– Eugene Field, The Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac (1895 – posthumous)

I have thought about where this little volume should be posted and concluded this is the place. It is not autographed and not really “signed.” And there is a story behind it that leaves some question about who really might have owned it. It was given to me by a late friend a few years ago andI did a little research.
It is a miniature, leather bound, 1837 printing of Walton’s Complete Angler, issued by Charles Tilt in London as part of Tilt’s Miniature Classical Library. This printing combines Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.The quarter I placed near the bookplate provides an idea of why it is a “miniature.”. It has marbled end papers. Inside the front is the bookplate, with a sheaf of wheat, of Eugene Field (1850 – 1895). Mr. Field, of Chicago, was a well-known journalist, children’s poet (such as “Wynkin, Blynkin and Nod”, humorous writer and, importantly for this discussion, collector of books. His book collection was many thousands’ of volumes. His childhood house in St. Louis is today a museum. Also, his father was a lawyer who had represented Dred Scott. There are many schools, libraries and playgrounds throughout the Midwest named for Eugene Field.
And in a page at the back is the fountain-penned inscription I have scanned and provided below. “This book came from the library of my father, Eugene Field. Eugene Field II, September 12, 1923.”

Seems pretty straightforward, right? Or maybe not.

Here is what I have been able to find. After the death of Eugene Field at the young age of forty-five, his namesake son undertook to sell off dad’s book collection. And he did just that. And this book may well be one from that collection. The book is authentic and the script in the back is as well.
But Field the younger ran out of books, and seemingly was able to run out of money so in the 1920’s or 1930’s the son, by now an accomplished forger of signatures such as Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Rudyard Kipling, et al, found one Harry Sickles and the two then reproduced Field the elder’s bookplate and added it and the authenticity line at the back to a large number of genuine books that never came from dad’s collection. But their value was greatly increased, principally with the forged signatures of historic figures that young Field added to the book. Neither was ever prosecuted.
This little book, however, might be genuinely from Field’s collection. Some have written that the bookplate created by the team of Field and Sickles has a “family crest” but the genuine bookplate does not depict such a crest. The plate in this book would seem to be the latter. And there is no forged inscription or signature. But in the end who really knows who owned this book?
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quashnet
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Re: Who owned your book?

#53

Post by quashnet »

Here is the "family crest" version of the Eugene Field bookplate. Several important collectors, such as Daniel B. Fearing, seem to have developed different versions of their bookplates over time. Whether the elder Fields was among this group, I do not know. It is great to learn the story of Sickles and Field, Jr.

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adrien schnee
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Re: Who owned your book?

#54

Post by adrien schnee »

theronmad wrote:
09/21/21 08:50
I read about this learning and reporting technique earlier on the essaywritinghelp.pro blog and it's a really fun form of learning. I like. By the way, I wondered - what kind of camera do you have, and what settings did you make for such an image? And I very like some form of education, it gives more understanding about the subject and uses more imagination when learning
I unfortunately don’t have any preciously inscribed books to add to this great thread - but I do find it somehow fantastic that I have only come upon it due to it being resurrected after 8 years by poorly written, semi coherent mass targeting spam. Thank you spam for putting me in touch with Charlie’s thread! Very enjoyable histories and stories here.

Adrien

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cwfly
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Re: Who owned your book?

#55

Post by cwfly »

Much more, if anyone is interested, on Eugene Field, etc.
http://www.internetantiquegazette.com/a ... n_sickles/

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SpringCreek
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Re: Who owned your book?

#56

Post by SpringCreek »

I bought a copy of “the book” years ago and found the note inside. I always have wondered who Cathy is and what sort of relationship she had with her father.

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Re: Who owned your book?

#57

Post by adrien schnee »

cwfly wrote:
11/30/21 18:47
Much more, if anyone is interested, on Eugene Field, etc.
http://www.internetantiquegazette.com/a ... n_sickles/

Charlie - Pinny’s exploits and the “coachman forgeries “ truly made for some fascinating reading. Thanks for the link, it’s a real compendium of history and knowledge with all of the artists, writers etc that can be accessed.

adrien schnee
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Re: Who owned your book?

#58

Post by adrien schnee »

SpringCreek wrote:
11/30/21 19:46
I bought a copy of “the book” years ago and found the note inside. I always have wondered who Cathy is and what sort of relationship she had with her father.

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Jim, that’s a wonderful note from Cathy to her father contained within your book. A real depth of emotion and spirituality in those words. Yes, it does give such a sense of wanting to know more about father and daughter and their past and connection.

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cwfly
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Re: Who owned your book?

#59

Post by cwfly »

Adrien, Your observation about the inscription in Jim's book is perfect. Her Christmas, 1992 message to her father is remarkable.
Charlie

PT48
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Re: Who owned your book?

#60

Post by PT48 »

My copy of A Fly Fisher's Life by Charles Ritz was owned by Alan Jarvis of fishing tackle manufacturers Jarvis Walker, probably the biggest such company in Australia throughout the Twentieth Century. Mr Jarvis has a beautiful ex libris sticker attached to the first page. My first fly rod, a Jarvis Walker Gold Medal, was purchased in the early 1970's. It was made of fibreglass and was considered to be top of the line at the time. A nice piece of symmetry there, especially given how highly I regard Ritz's book (perhaps the great eccentric of fly fishing).

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