Bibliography of Fly Fishing - 17th-century Texts

17th-century Texts

• Dennys, John (1652). The Secrets of Angling. London: John Harrison. http://www.archive.org/details/secretsofangling00denniala., The Secrets of Angling contains the first know illustration of an artificial fly. Denny's book was reprinted extensively in the 19th century.
• Walton, Izaak (1653). The Compleat Angler. London. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/9198., Izaak Walton did not profess to be an expert with the fly; the fly fishing in his first edition was contributed by Thomas Barker, a retired cook and humorist, who produced a treatise of his own in 1659. In the last edition a second part was added by his friend Charles Cotton, who took up Venator where Walton had left him and completed his instruction in fly fishing and the making of flies.
• Venables, Colonel Robert (1662). The Experienced Angler or Angling Improved. London: Richard Marriott. http://www.archive.org/details/experiencedangle00venarich., Extensively cited in Herd's The Fly, Venables work provides great insight into the fly tackle and techniques being used in the 17th century