COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS

The Compleat Angler,
Or the Contemplative Man's Recreation
by Izaak Walton
London: Richard Marriot, 1653.

Izaak Walton (1593-1683) wrote one of the bestselling books of all time. The Compleat Angler, or the Contemplative Man's Recreation is the third most frequently reprinted book in the English language after the Bible and the works of Shakespeare.

Published in 1653, Walton's first edition was small and was published by his close friend and fellow parishioner, Richard Marriot of St. Dustan's. Subsequent editions of 1655 and 1661 were enlarged and elaborated. In 1676, Charles Cotton, a friend and pupil of Walton's wrote a collaborative addition - Second Part.

In all, there were five editions in Walton's lifetime. The NSL holds 36 editions in the rare book room and seven published in the 20th century in the main reading room

Walton was born in Stafford, England. As a young man he apprenticed to a cloth merchant. In the 1610s he was the proprietor of an ironmonger's shop (a hardware store), but he became prosperous as a linen draper and retired 20 years later. He had acquired property in the countryside and lived much of his life near Winchester.

The Compleat Angler is as much about life as it is about angling. It is the story of three sportsmen, a fisherman named Piscator (who is Walton), a huntsman named Venator and a fowler named Auceps. They walk and fish the River Lea beginning on the 1st of May. In the 5th edition, Walton describes fly-fishing on the River Dove.

James Prosek wrote The Compleat Angler: A Connecticut Yankee Follows in the Footsteps of Walton (New York: HarperCollins, 1999) on a fellowship from Yale. He writes in the prologue: "When one begins to read Walton it becomes apparent immediately that he had an extraordinary gift for friendship, and what makes him so appealing is that he extends this friendship to his readers and invites us to follow through this pastoral fantasy world to the trout stream." He quotes Walton: "You are well overtaken, Gentlemen, a good morning to you both; I have stretched my legs up Tottenham-hill to overtake you, hoping your business may occasion you towards Ware, whither I am going this fine fresh May morning."