An early Victorian book on fly fishing became what is thought to be the most expensive book on angling ever sold at auction when it was bought for an astonishing £187,250 at Bonhams sale of the Angling Library of Alan Jarvis in London today (22 May, 2012).
Catechism of Fly Making, Angling and Dyeing, Comprising Most Essential Information was written by William Blacker and published in 1842. This is an expanded edition of 130 pages dating from 1843 and includes over 75 flies and fly-tying specimens mounted with silver seals on 4 sheets of thick card.
William Blacker was a London dealer in fishing tackle from his shop in Soho and a famous angler in his own right. His methods were seen as revolutionary at the time and the book has long been regarded as a key work in the history of fly fishing.
Elsewhere in the sale a first edition of Thomas Barker’s The Art of Angling of 1651 made £61,250 and Markus-Eliezer Bloch’s beautifully illustrated natural history of fish sold for £51,650.
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