Robert Bright Marston Theodore Gordon (1 results)

Theodore Gordon, "though once a real person, he has become our myth," [John McDonald]. Theodore Gordon (1854-1915) was the metaphorical bridge between English dry fly patterns and the American dry fly. Certainly, though, he has been credited with much more than that: for instance, his thorough understanding of aquatic entomology; his introduction of the dry fly to America; that he was "the father of modern American angling"; none of those claims are actually correct, according to angling historian Paul Schullery. Nonetheless Gordon was indeed a thoughtful and gifted writer, and he corresponded with several of angling's great writers and thinkers of the time, including G. E. M. Skues, Frederic Halford, and Robert Bright Marston, editor of The Fishing Gazette in London. This letter from Robert B. Marston is addressed to Theodore Gordon's mother, Fanny Jones Gordon, shortly after Theodore's death on May 1, 1915. Upon learning of his death, R.B. Marston, the influential editor of The Fishing Gazette, was so devastated by the news, he wrote this letter to Gordon's mother, dated May 16, 1915, addressed to: "Mrs. Gordon - Liberty - Sullivan Co - New York - USA", the heartfelt letter relays Marston's sympathy for her loss as well as his own, as "he and I have corresponded for so many years that it is a great sorrow to me". Marston goes on to write: "I sincerely hope that one of his angling friends who knew him well will some day collect his writings into a book. I believe that his 'American Notes' in my paper were his first writings on flies & fishing and many of them are worth publication". It's apparent by the content of this letter, that Marston was keenly aware of the importance of Gordon's contributions to dry fly fishing decades before most folks were informed by the publication of The Complete Fly Fisherman: The Notes and Letters of Theodore Gordon, edited by John McDonald and published in 1947. The letter was owned for many years by Roy Steenrod (1882-1977), a close friend of Gordon's, and later preserved with archival backing and professionally framed by angling writer and fly dresser Poul Jorgensen (1926-2004), with Jorgensen's Roscoe, NY label on the reverse. The hand written letter under The Fishing Gazette letterhead is of historic importance. It's likely Gordon's mother never saw this letter as she was quite ill at the time and, tragically, might not have even known of her son's death before her own death six months later. The letter is framed in walnut and under glass. It measures 12 1/2 x 14. In nice condition. Fine with old folds to the letter.