THE WAY OF A MAN WITH A NYMPH: THE NYMPH DRESSINGS OF G.E.M. SKUES.

2005 1st edition. Two volumes. One of text and one containing flies. Fully bound in blue Morocco gilt.

A very handsome set of two leather-bound volumes; one of text and one containing twenty trout flies tied by Jim Nice for this edition. Begun by Donald Overfield and Timothy Benn, the publisher, it was shelved on Overfield's death, then later completed by Benn and Tony Hayter. The text volume contains three pieces: i. An extended essay by Tony Hayter entitled "G.E.M. Skues and the Nymph"; ii. An excerpt from The Flyfishers' Journal describing a Flyfisher's Club debate of 1938 on nymph fishing in chalkstreams; iii. "Skues' Nymphs and other Fly Dressings," taken from Overfield's "The Way of a Man with a Trout." Timothy Benn provides introductory remarks and Kenneth Robson the Preface. The book was edited by Jonathan Newdick, while Terry Griffiths contributed an appreciation of Jim Nice - who tied the flies for the book's de luxe edition - to the Flies volume.