Dame Juliana Berners

The authorship of the first book about fishing printed in the English language - the Treatyse of Fishing with an Angle, published in 1496 - is shrouded in mystery. We know where the Treatyse was printed and we know a great deal about the man who printed it, but we know next to nothing about the person who wrote it. The incredible thing is that she may have been a nun called Juliana Berners.

In this video, Andrew Herd ties one of the patterns from this 500 year old book and then goes fishing with it and although he is using a fly that went out of fashion four centuries ago, he does well with it.

Dame Juliana Berners is also featured in Andrew's book The History of Fly Fishing, which is the most comprehensive history of fly fishing available today - you can order the book by visiting this link. You can also learn more about the Dame in Angling Giants, another classic from the amusing and informative pen of this well-known author. Read about Angling Giants by clicking here and you can order a copy by following this link.

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