THE BOOK OF THE HACKLE. By Frank Elder. De luxe leather-bound edition.

1979 1st edition. De luxe issue. 8vo (162 x 248mm). Ppxii,140,i + 5 leaves of hackles tipped-in at rear. Colour plates, b/w illustrations. Fully bound in maroon morocco leather, five raised bands to spine, marbled end-papers, all edges gilt, upper board and spine titled in gilt.

This is the handsomely produced deluxe leather-bound edition of Frank Elder's important book. Fully bound in maroon morocco gilt by A.W. Lumsden. Mounted in the rear of the book, on five leaves of black paper with gilt captions, are 29 hackles". There are numerous books about almost every aspect of fly-fishing and while every book dealing with artificial fly must of necessity make reference to the hackle, few deal with the subject in any detail and no book has ever been written before on this all-important part of any dry-fly. Frank Elder has remedied this and in seeking to answer the fundamental question of what makes a 'good' hackle has produced an authoritative and original work which deals systematically with all aspects of the hackle - its purpose, shape, quality and colour as well as valuable notes on breeding for hackles and on their commercial supply". An invaluable reference book that remains extremely useful to the fly-tyer. Chapters include: How it began; Feather structure; The jungle cock; Dry-fly fishing - the imitation of the newly hatched dun; Colour; Quality; Shape; Hen hackles, saddles and spades; The commercial supply; Breeding for hackles; Preparing the cape. The author died shortly before the publication of his book.