[b]I have added a section with recipes of flies from John Turton’s book of 1836.
There are fly patterns not so familiar there, and some old favourites.
http://donaldnicolson.webplus.net/page472.html[/b]
Very nice collection of dressings. I see Turton was a fan of a dubbed thorax, which is in nice contrast to those listed by Pritt, with the bodies primarily just the tying thread. The peacock herl head seems common to both. I like to see how the opinions differed then just as they continue to do now.
- Jeff
I think you should tie each one and post a photo so we can see what they looked like. Hard to tell from just a recipe.
It is odd that, I find that I can enjoy reading a fly recipe for it’s own sake.
Some of the flies are quite well known, but others are quite unfamiliar.
I might try some of those, but I seem to have given myself too many projects. 
As busy as you are Donald I can understand.
Jeff, I did quite a bit of reading and re-reading the recipes to determine that he was actually giving thoracic instructions.
I made some assumptions, he often gives the body as a colour of silk then gives some fur just under the wing (hackle),
so I give a fur thorax. He does not actually mention a thorax as such. These recipes are my translation of his early 19th
century regional English.
If anybody wants to see the original recipes :-
http://www.archive.org/details/anglersmanualorf00turtiala
Donald,
Your depth of knowledge never ceases to amaze me. Thanks for posting those. As soon as I get some stuff unpacked from my last trip, I’ll be dressing a few of those for my fly box. Wonderful stuff, my friend.
REE
Thanks for sharing those Donald !
Thanks for the link to the book. I shall enjoy reading this.
- Jeff
I’m going to opt for the on-line version as well. I’ve been able to locate print on demand copies selling from as low as $8.25 to $50.00. I’m a bit disappointed with the reproductions I’ve seen of other books. Though the printing is clear, they often lack the wonderful colors of the originals. I did also locate some original copies of the 1836 book, selling from $150 to $500 depending on condition. Thanks again, Donald.
REE
[b]Ron and Jeff,
Always glad to help, when somebody shows an interest in one of my obsessions.
When the archive book site opened up I started looking at the references and bibliographies in some of the books I already had, especially various W. H. Lawrie books.
It pays to have a look at them. You get the proper title, name of the author and date.
First I look up in ABBooks, this gives some idea of the availability and price of the book.
I also have a look on the Archive and download the book.
I have found, if possible to avoid Google Downloads as they seem to make a simple download as awkward as possible.
Usually on most books there are several downloads available, I prefer a PDF version into Adobe.
It is quite interesting to look at the various download offers, you will find the Google download totals are numbered in two figures and the others in hundreds, that tells you everything about Google’s downloads. The Internet public has voted with its button.
I still sometimes buy a book via ABBooks, I still like to handle an old book, but there
are limits, especially to the cash I am willing to spend for any book.
I agree with you Ron, some of the computer generated re-prints are really crap.
The full colour PDF version is better.
The best part is hunting in the bibliography sections in the books I already have.
[/b]
I too would like to thank you Donald… This book was a great read online, and I’m going to download it for a permanent copy. Your interests are very close to mine but my talents are lacking… Keep up the good work and I am so glad you are a part of this board.
Michael