UW's rare book collection a treat for anglers
WILLY ZIMMER Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Wednesday, March 3, 2004 12:00 am
Since ancient man caught his first fish, telling the story has been almost as important as the catching. To confirm this theory, just ask any angler about his or her last catch - then pull up a chair.
Given that tendency to embellish, once homo sapiens developed language it was inevitable fishing literature would develop as a genre. And judging by the collection of rare fishing books at the University of Wyoming's Toppan Rare Books Library, a fine genre it has become.
The Toppan Library, which is in the American Heritage Center, hosts an assortment of rare fishing titles equaled by only a few collections in the United States. From Izaak Walton's groundbreaking "Compleat Angler" to contemporary titles by well-read authors like John Gierach, the history of fishing is chronicled in print.
The Frederick Willcox Toppan Collection, to which Walton's works belong, has nearly 500 "highly-valued angling titles," according to curator Anne Marie Lane.
An estimated 200 titles are also held in the LaFontaine Collection, which was established to honor fly-fishing author Gary LaFontaine after his death in 2002.
Remarkably, the titles are accessible to anyone, if proper procedures are followed.
"We urge the public to come," Lane said. "We cradle the books and we ask people to wash their hands before they come in, but they're welcome to just sit down and look at the books and enjoy them."
The lineage established by the collection appropriately begins with Walton's 1653 classic. "Compleat Angler" combines practical information with angling folklore - all in archaic English in the early versions, hence the unusual spelling of "complete."
Modern anglers rarely have sing-alongs on the river, but songs were apparently important to Walton and his mates. To accommodate anglers in a boat, he placed sheet copies of songs side-by-side but opposed to each other, so two seated anglers could read and sing while facing each other.
The collections continue with works from subsequent years, many with valuable engravings. "The Accomplisht Lady's Delight," a 17th-century guide for the Englishwoman includes a chapter on fishing along with advice on cooking, distilling and making medicines, and a chapter on fishing.
"Among all these things a woman should know to do there is a chapter on fishing and a picture of her bringing home the bacon," said Lane.
Perhaps the most valued work for Western fly anglers is "Dry Fly Entomology" by Frederic M. Halford. He pioneered dry fly-fishing in the late 19th century in England, then helped introduce it to America.
"Dry Fly Entomology" has 100 flies included in the book - real flies tied by Halford, rather than pictures.
"We've lost the color of course," Lane said of the flies. "A lot of them will say something blue, or something red. But if a grandparent has talked about a particular named fly, you can come in and see how that is done."
UW history instructor Adrian Bantjes, who teaches class on the history of fly-fishing among his offerings, said he "almost fainted" when he realized the Toppan Library held a Halford original.
"There were 50 copies made so who knows how many are left, and the bulk of those are going to be in England," Bantjes said. "My guess is there are only a handful of copies in the U.S. and that thing's so valuable. … Anne Marie's collection here is just wonderful to be able to use. For the students to be able to go directly to a real Halford and see the flies that he actually tied, that's amazing."
20th century authors are well represented, some with very familiar names. Cloistered deep in the stacks, graduate student Scott Carleton eagerly pored through the pages of an aged book easily mistaken for a Western if one just read the credit.
"I've just got to read these Zane Grey books," Carleton enthused. "I didn't even know he wrote books on fishing."
Grey, who is best known as a writer of Western thrillers, actually wrote three fishing books - "An American Angler in Australia," "Tales of Freshwater Fishing" and "Tales of Tahitian Waters. Each work is available in the Toppan collection.
During his fishing adventures Grey set numerous deep sea, all-tackle records and is pictured in Tales of Tahitian Waters with"a strange green fish." According to UW Flycaster faculty advisor Ed Schmidtmann, "to this day it hasn't been identified."
A contemporary work soon to become part of the collection is "Under Cottonwoods" by Laramie author Stephen Grace. Grace's work is described as a "novel of friendship, fly-fishing and redemption," and is one of listed as one of Lyons Press' hot books.
Grace said a copy of his work will be donated to the LaFontaine Collection, and he is proud to be carrying on "a distinguished tradition."
"I definitely intend to come back," he added. "This is great. I could spend a lot of time in here."
Schmidtmann said Lyons Press is one of the library's many benefactors, and contributes several books a year to the LaFontaine collection.
Some of its more recent contributions include:
*One of 25 numbered copies of "Good Flies" by Gierach, signed by the author and Nick Lyons.
*One of 55 copies of "Fishing Bamboo" by Gierach, signed by the author.
*One of eight numbered copies of "Hemingway On Fishing," a comprehensive collection of Ernest Hemingway's writing on fishing, edited by Nick Lyons.
The University of Wyoming Flycasters also donate works on an annual basis.
UW alum Clara Toppan, of course, began the Toppan Collection in 1966 when she donated the substantial library of her late husband, Frederick.
Lane said Clara ensured the library was permanently endowed in her will.
Which makes Lane excited about protecting the lineage that stretches from Walton to Grace - and beyond.
"What I'm seeing is that there are a whole lot more people interested in the subject than I had any idea," Lane said. "When I first saw that fishing and hunting collection I thought 'Who will ever come in?'"
"… The experience of handling a book from the 17th-18th century is remarkable. I used to be an archeologist and these are artifacts from the past."
Toppan Rare Books Library
where: University of Wyoming American Heritage Center, Laramie
hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
information: (307) 766-2565
On the Net:
Toppan Rare Books Library: www.uwyo.edu/ahc/depts/toppan/toppan.htm
University of Wyoming Flycasters: www.uwyo.edu/flycast