Description
The first edition of Halcyon; Or, Rod-Fishing With Fly, Minnow, And Worm by Henry Wade, published in 1861.
Octavo, xvi, 212pp, [12 plates]. Publisher’s green cloth, title in gilt on spine, blind-stamped covers. Yellow endpapers, bookseller’s label on front pastedown. Note written in ink on the half-title about the author. This work is complete with 12 plates, eight hand-colored. Solid text block, solid hinges.
(Westwood & Satchell, p. 216) (Thatcher p. 529)
Halcyon; Or, Rod-Fishing With Fly, Minnow, And Worm by Henry Wade is a mid-19th-century English angling treatise that combines practical guidance with personal narrative, focusing primarily on trout fishing in British rivers and streams. Wade gives detailed, experience-based instruction on the comparative use of artificial fly, spinning minnow, and worm bait, including when each method is most effective depending on water clarity, current, weather, and season. He discusses rod and line selection, hook patterns, bait preparation, casting and striking technique, and the habits and feeding behavior of trout.Â
An important work in the Victorian sporting tradition.Â
