The Compleat Angler : or, The Contemplative Man`s Recreation

The Compleat Angler : or, The Contemplative Man`s Recreation
by Izaak Walton

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About Book

Amazon.com
For a book to stay in print for nearly 350 years, its merits must continually entice and allure. The Compleat Angler satisfies that on two counts. On the most obvious level, it remains as good a primer on fishing as any angler would want. But its most enduring distinction--what's raised an essential sporting how-to to the level of literary classic--is the one cast off by its subtitle; Izaak Walton's sometimes convoluted 17th-century grammar can still reel in our imaginations with his graceful evocations of a life free from hurly-burly in the company of friends intent on physical and moral sustenance. "He that hopes to be a good Angler must not only bring an inquiring, searching, observing wit," suggests the master, "but he must bring a large measure of hope and patience.... Doubt not but Angling will prove to be so pleasant, that it will prove to be like a virtue, a reward to itself." Just like Walton's magnificent literary catch.

Midwest Book Review
First published in 1653, Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler celebrates the art and spirit of fishing in prose and verse. Walton infused his work with anecdotes and commentaries on catching and preparing everything from carp to trout, chub to pike. This modern Ecco Press edition is enhanced with a new introduction by Thomas McGuane and illustrations by Arthur Rackham. The Compleat Angler is as fresh and relevant today as it was two and a half centuries ago. The Compleat Angler continues to be "must" reading for every new generation of fishermen (and fisher women!) who have ever picked up a pole, line and lure to set forth on one of human kind's oldest pastimes -- fishing.

Book Description
Walton's popular classic treatise on fishing goes far beyond techniques, as it embraces a life that values serenity and appreciation for creation. Some of the natural history lore is antiquated, but keen intelligence and good humor express themselves in a readable and enjoyable manner.

Download Description
"Doubt not but Angling will prove to be so pleasant, that it will prove to be like a virtue, a reward to itself." A classic for almost 350 years, The Angler becomes eBook

From the Publisher
This edition includes Charles Cotton's additional material, requested by Izaak Walton for the book's fifth edition.

About the Author

Izaak Walton, one of the earliest English biographers who is best remembered as the author of The Compleat Angler, was born in the parish of St. Mary's, at Stafford, on August 9, 1593. His father, Gervase Walton, was an innkeeper who died when the boy was five. By the time Walton was twenty he was living in London, apprenticed to his brother-in-law, a prosperous clothier. His marriage to Rachel Floud, a relative of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, in 1626 allied him with a prominent clerical family, and as a parishioner at St. Dunstan's Church Walton became a close friend of its vicar, John Donne.

Among Walton's earliest surviving literary efforts is an elegy written in 1633 for the initial collection of Donne's poems. The poet-clergyman was the subject of the first of Walton's great biographical essays: Life of Donne served as the preface to the 1640 edition of the minister's sermons and was filled with anecdotes and personal impressions. Over the years Walton's loyalty to the Church of England, coupled with his genius for friendship, inspired him to write biographies of four other eminent theologians: Sir Henry Wotton (1651), Richard Hooker (1665), George Herbert (1670), and Dr. Robert Sanderson (1678). Each is distinguished by the intimacy and vivacity characteristic of the Life of Donne. It is little wonder that Samuel Johnson rated Walton's five Lives among 'his most favourite books.'

Walton's reputation as a biographer is overshadowed by the enduring popularity of The Compleat Angler. First published in 1653, during the Civil War that forced Walton and other royalists to flee London, the work is more than an engaging discourse on the art of fishing. It reflects a thoughtful, sensitive Englishman's abiding concern with leading a contemplative life. Indeed, many have read Walton's unique celebration of angling throughout the English countryside as a veiled satire against Cromwell and the Puritans. Four revised editions appeared in the author's lifetime, and The Compleat Angler has enjoyed a wide following ever since. Samuel Johnson praised the book in the eighteenth century as did the Scottish philosopher Lord Home. Later, Charles Lamb recommended >The Compleat Angler to Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 'It breathes the very spirit of innocence, purity, and simplicity of heart,' he noted. 'It would sweeten a man's temper at any time to read it; it would Christianise every angry, discordant passion; pray make yourself acquainted with it.'

Walton remained active well into old age. The Restoration of Charles II in 1660 returned many of his friends in the Anglican clergy to positions of influence, and they were quick to reciprocate the acts of goodwill he had displayed during Cromwell's reign. Following the death of his second wife in 1662, Walton was employed as steward to the bishop of Worcester. At the bishop's residence of Farnham Castle in Wincester Walton continued to write and revise his published works.

In 1676 Walton asked a young follower, the poet Charles Cotton, to furnish a supplement on fly-fishing for the fifth edition of The Compleat Angler, and the two pursued the project at a cottage on the banks of the Dove River in Derbyshire. On August 9, 1683, the inveterate angler marked his ninetieth birthday by drafting a will and securing it with a seal given him by John Donne. Izaak Walton died three months later on December 15, 1683 and was buried at Winchester Cathedral.

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