ANNOUNCING OUR NEW BOOK
Mary Orvis Marbury: A Life in Flies
by Steve Woit
Mary Orvis Marbury: A Life in Flies
by Steve Woit
Mary Orvis Marbury: A Life in Flies is the first biography of a remarkable woman whose work was transformational in fly tying in America. Mary was a true pioneer. She founded the fly tying operation for the iconic Orvis Company, wrote the landmark book Favorite Flies, and produced the spectacular fly display for the first World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
The large format 216 page coffee-table size book (11 x11 inches), published by Fly Fishing Treasures, includes over 300 color photographs of over 600 patterns of original Mary Orvis Marbury flies in frames and panels featuring the work of the Orvis fly tiers.
The volume also includes a step-by-step guide to tying a Mary Orvis Marbury fly pattern, the Prouty, complete with instructions on materials and techniques by master fly tier Lee Schechter. This step-by-step guide presents clear photos and descriptions of the key tying methods used to tie M.O.M. flies.
Each copy of this limited edition is numbered and signed by the author.
Included with every purchase:
Guide to the Mary Orvis Marbury
World’s Columbian Exposition Fly Panels
featured in Mary Orvis Marbury: A Life in Flies.
Mary Orvis Marbury: A Life in Flies features, for the first time in print, the largest collection of original early Orvis trout, bass, lake and salmon flies. The collection includes the flies and photographs of the complete set Mary Orvis Marbury World’s Columbian Exposition panels as well as a sampling of the plates of flies included in Mary’s book Favorite Flies and the book Fishing With the Fly by her father Charles and his co-author Albert Nelson Cheney.
The treasured Orvis fly collection from the American Museum of Fly Fishing in Manchester, Vermont is prominently featured, including the historic World’s Columbian Exposition fly panels, as well as a newly discovered complete collection of hundreds of fly samples used in the original Orvis fly tying operation.
The volume draws from a rich archive of Orvis family photographs and rare collections of Orvis flies and ephemera from around the country. A rare photograph of Mary fishing with the fishing legend Theodore Gordon is also included.
Readers interested in fly fishing and fly tying history will learn not only about Mary’s life and work, but will also gain an understanding of the Victorian gaudy wet fly and the hundreds of fly patterns associated with this formative time in the evolution of fly tying.
Mary and the World’s Columbian Exposition Fly Panels Chicago, 1893
Under Mary’s careful design and execution, the creation of the World’s Columbian Exposition fly display resulted in one of the finest treasures of American fly fishing. The display, containing hundreds of flies tied by Mary and her staff as well as a few contributed by notable tiers of the day, were paired with outstanding photographs of famous fishing spots by leading outdoor photographers of the time. Mary Orvis Marbury: A Life in Flies includes color photographs of the complete set. Each panel is detailed in the Guide to the Mary Orvis Marbury World’s Columbian Exposition Fly Panels which will be included free with every order.