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PBA Galleries nets major collection of rare fishing books for June 1 auction

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Title page of ‘The Ristigouche and Its Salmon Fishing’ by Dean Sage, Edinburgh, 1888. Estimate: $15,000-$25,000. PBA Galleries image

 

SAN FRANCISCO – On Thursday, June 1, PBA Galleries will hold Part I of the Richard Beagle Collection of angling and sporting books. The auction will consist of over 300 lots of rare and important works on angling and fishing, plus scarce accounts of big game hunting and adventures in the wild, gathered over multiple decades. The collection includes numerous books containing original specimens of flies, rare limited editions, many signed and inscribed copies, and more, all in superb condition. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

Highlighting the sale is The Ristigouche and Its Salmon Fishing, in two volumes, by the American fishing enthusiast Dean Sage published in Edinburgh, 1888 and limited to 105 copies. Sage starts with the geography and history of the Ristigouche, one of the best salmon-fishing rivers in the world, before dealing with the habits of the salmon and the history of fishing clubs, while entertaining the reader with many interesting fishing stories throughout. Arguably the rarest book on salmon fishing, this beautiful volume (above) has a $15,000-$25,000 estimate.

A number of books with flies are featured in the sale including a rare deluxe issue of Leonard West’s The Natural Trout Fly and Its Imitation (below). Published in 1912, this is one of only a few copies of the deluxe issue containing 13 color plates and 108 specimen flies bound in on sunken mounts (estimate: $10,000-$15,000).

 

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Leonard West’s ‘The Natural Trout Fly and Its Imitation,’ 1912, 13 color plates and 108 specimen flies. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. PBA Galleries image

 

A signed copy of Dry Fly Entomology by Frederic M. Halford is one of 100 copies of the Edition De Luxe. In two volumes, the second volume contains 100 actual specimens of tied flies (estimate $7,000-$10,000). Eleven folders displaying 164 hackle specimens accompanies William Baigent’s A Book on Hackles for Fly Dressing. Baigent was considered one of the most skillful fly fishermen in England, and his book is only one of perhaps 40 to 80 copies (estimate: $4,000-$6,000).

A Quaint Treatise on Flies and Fly Making (below) was authored by an “Old Man Well Known on the Derbyshire Streams as a First-Class Fly-Fisher a Century Ago and is Printed from an Old Ms. Never Before Published, the Original Spelling and Language Being Retained.” The editorial notes, patterns of flies and samples of fly-making materials supplied by editor W.H. Aldam (estimate: $3,000-$5,000).

 

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‘A Quaint Treatise on Flies and Fly Making by an Old Fisherman,’ edited by W.H. Aldam, published by John B. Day, London, 1876. Estimate: $3,000-$5,000. PBA Galleries image

 

The Salmon Flies of Major John Popkin Trahern, edited by Paul Schmookler, one of 28 Deluxe Edition copies with full-page color illustrations, and one of only a few bound in full morocco, with an original fly tied by Schmookler, has a $3,000-$5,000 estimate.

 

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‘The Salmon Flies of Major John Popkin Trahern,’ edited by Paul Schmookler, with an original fly tied by Schmookler. Estimate: $3,000-$5,000 estimate. PBA Galleries image

 

Only five copies of the original printing of 50 of Lee Sturgis’ Salmon Fishing on Cain River escaped a fire shortly after it was published in 1919. The copy in the PBA Galleries auction is estimated at $10,000-$15,000.

 

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Illustration in ‘Salmon fishing on the Cain River’ by Lee Sturgis. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. PBA Galleries image

 

Featured sporting books include A Hunters Summer in Yukon Territory by A.H. Bannon, 1911, a rare account of a hunting trip to northwest Canada, in the original printed wrappers (estimate: $1,000-$1,500); Louis A. Bovet, Jr.’s Moose Hunting in Alaska, Wyoming, and Yukon Territory in its rare original dust jacket (est: $1,000-$1,500); and the scarce account of a Canadian hunting trip, Hunting Big Game in Far Northwest British Columbia by J.R. Bradley (estimate: $1,000-$1,500).

The sale will begin at 11 a.m. Pacific time. For more information, contact PBA Galleries at 415-989-2665 or pba@pbagalleries.com.

 

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