The best vinatge fly tying books are not tomes that need to be dragged down from dusty shelves. These books may have been published in 1800 but are free to download from Google Books. Michael Radencich has compiled his list of the best vintage fly tying books below. You can also read what Micahel Radencich has to say about the classic salmon fly. He mentions several of the best vintage fly tying books listed below. He also gives his opinions on which are the best and most delightful to read.

BEST VINTAGE FLY TYING BOOKS

Angling in All Its Branches Samuel Taylor (1800)
Daniel’s Rural Sports Daniel (1804)
The North Country Angler Anon (1817)
The Modern Fisher: or, Driffield Angler Alexander Mackintosh (1821)
Art of Angling Charles Bowlker (1826)
Fly Fishers Guide George Cole Bainbridge (1840)
Art of Angling William Blacker (1842)
The Practice of Angling C O’Gorman (1845)
The American Angler’s Guide John J Brown (1846)
Jones’s Guide to Norway Frederic Tolfrey (1848)
The Rod and Line Hewett Wheatley (1849)
The Book of the Salmon Ephemera (Edward Fitzgibbon, 1849)
Fly Fishing in Salt and Fresh Water Horace Gordon Hutchinson (1851)
The Erne Henry Newland (1851)
The Angler’s Companion Thomas Tod Stoddart (1853)
Blacker’s Art of Fly Making William Blacker (1855)
Halcyon Henry Wade (1861)
The American Angler’s Book Thaddeus Norris (1865)
A Book on Angling Francis Francis (1867)
A Year of Liberty W Peard (1867)
Fishing in American Waters Genio C Scott (1869)
Autumns on the Spey AE Knox (1872)
Fly Fishing and Worm Fishing for Salmon
H Cholmondeley-Pennell (1876)
Game Fish of the Northern States and British Provinces Robert Barnwell Roosevelt (1884)
Days and Nights of Salmon Fishing William Scrope (1885)
The Angler and the Loop-rod David Webster (1885)
How and Where to Fish in Ireland Hi-Regan (1886)
Walbran’s British Angler Francis Walbran (1889)
How to Tie Salmon Flies Captain Hale (1892)
Rod and River Major AT Fisher (1892)
By Hook and By Crook Fraser Sandeman (1894)
The Salmon Fly George M Kelson (1895)
Salmon and Sea Trout Herbert Maxwell (1898)
Tips George M Kelson (1901)
Fishing at Home and Abroad Herbert Maxwell (1913)
How to Dress Salmon Flies TE Pryce Tannatt (1914)