The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton

The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton

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The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton

As no man is born an artist, so no man is born an angler.

Isaak Walton's The Compleat Angler, long considered the bible of fishing, is a joyful celebration of the English countryside and the relaxed and reflective lifestyle of the devoted fisherman. Through dialogue between teacher and student, the book sheds a unique light on fishing, baiting, and cooking, including an original recipe for trout. Its music, rhymes, poetry, and humor are all brought to life by a full cast. As winding as a quiet brook and as bountiful as a bursting riverbank, The Compleat Angler is essential listening for any outdoors enthusiast


Izaak Walton (1593-1683) was born in Stafford. He was a biographer of the poet John Donne, and wrote lives of other notable Anglicans, including George Herbert and Richard Hooker. He was a Royalist, and during the Civil War participated in a royalist conspiracy after the battle of Worcester. In The Compleat Angler he expressed his political and religious allegiances while exploring humanity's relationship to the natural world. He is buried in Winchester Cathedral, where he is commemorated by a stained-glass window in the Fishermen's Chapel.

Charles Cotton (1630-87) was a country gentleman, poet, and translator, who built a fishing house for himself and Walton at his birthplace, Beresford Hall in Staffordshire. In 1676, at Walton's invitation, he wrote the second part to The Compleat Angler.

Marjorie Swann, editor, grew up fishing for perch and pike on St Joseph Island, Ontario. She subsequently earned degrees at Queen's University and Oxford. She is the author of Curiosities and Texts: The Culture of Collecting in Early Modern England (2001) and is writing a book about Walton's Angler and its post-seventeenth-century afterlives.

SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9780486431871
ISBN 10 0486431878
Title The Compleat Angler
Author Izaak Walton
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Dover Publications Inc.
Year published 2004-03-01
Number of pages 176
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note Unavailable