Author: G. E. M. SKUES.
Title: Side-Lines, Side-Lights & Reflections. Fugitive Papers of a Chalk-Stream Angler. {Signed by G. E. M. Skues on the Title Page. Included are 12 Signed Holograph & Typed Letters Written by G. E. M. Skues, all with the Original Addressed Mailing Envelopes}.
Description: London. Seeley, Service & Co. Limited. {n.d. but 1938 [1932]}. Second printing. Octavo (10 x 6). 473 pp. including index plus 2 pp. Advertisements. Signed by G. E. M. Skues on the title page. (George Edward MacKenzie Skues, 1858-1949). Photo frontispiece showing Mr. Skues on the bank of his chalk stream. Eight black and white plates in all, some of which capture trout rising to stream insects. Included with the book are 12 signed letters (11 x 8 1/2) written by Mr. Skues on his law office stationery, and after his retirement, the holograph letters were written on lined paper at his residence at the Nadder Vale Hotel in Wilton, Wilts; 5 of the letters are holographs, two of these are 4 pages in length. There are 7 typed letters, 3 of which are between 1-2 pages. The letters date between February 1939 and December 1942, and each is accompanied by its original mailing envelope. The letters were penned by Mr. Skues to his friend and chief American correspondent at the time, Baird Foster of Merchantsville, New Jersey. Baird Foster was a member of The Anglers’ Club of New York and an accomplished bamboo fly rod builder. In one of the letters, Mr. Skues included two photos showing a bamboo rod section being held over an open flame, a treatment process requiring great skill. The letters focus on Mr. Skues’s fly fishing experiences and observations on his beloved River Itchen in Hampshire. Mr. Skues was a keen observer of trout and grayling and their feeding habits in chalk streams; many of his nymph patterns remain popular and in use today. He lived to fish for wild-bred trout in the River Itchen, disdaining what he called "stew-bred fish," who occasionally found their way to his waters. Paul Schullery hailed G. E. M. Skues as "the greatest fly fisher who ever lived." And John Goddard said of him, "with out doubt, the greatest thinking fly fisher ever to put pen to paper." It is unlikely a similar collection of Skues letters will appear in the market again. The book, letters, and envelopes are in near fine to fine condition. Signed by Author.

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