I wanted to share a mini review of " The Early Years Of The Michell Fishing Reel " by Rolands Babulis
I found it incredibly interesting reading through Rolands book , It often amazes and delights me that Mitchell collectors and dare I say It Experts are willing to share their wealth of knowledge . This is my first Michell book , so I am unable to draw comparisons to what has gone before and perhaps that was not a bad thing when looking through the book .
Rolands Book is 180 pages spread across 18 chapters ,The pages and print having a good look and feel of quality , I found there to be a good mix of content , Beautiful reels , interesting history & advertisements ,Boxes ,dating , very informative sections on classifying early reels and the anatomy of early reels . Within the latter we see very detailed images of the various areas of reels to help understand how early they are or the classification .
I found the detailed images and descriptions very helpful in understanding some of my own reels , I happy to admit there were aspects of the very earliest reels that I was unaware of . I also enjoyed the section on boxes as that was an area in which my knowledge is particularly lacking .
I really liked the way the author lays out the book as a reference draw up from his own knowledge and understanding and doesnt try and push it as a "bible" or ultimate or only authority to rigidly follow. In one part of the author writes :
"The reader is advised to consider the book with an open mind . Don't take everything written within this book as Gospel ; make your own enquiries and reach your own conclusions ."
The sheer number of early reels studied by the author is a huge factor in supporting the content of the book as a work of reference , but much more than that , in sharing some of the collectors reels we can glimpse into the world of the high end collector that perhaps most would never see . I would imagine many Mitchell collectors and enthusiasts might never see let alone own one of Mitchells very earliest reels . To see some of those treasures laid out in high quality and well printed images was a bit of a treat .
For the most part many Mitchell books are hard to come by so I was pleased to have this one . It ticks a lot of boxes including being informative and also entertaining due to the quality reels contained within .
For more information the author can be found on MRM under the username Altex .
