THE COMPLEAT ANGLER: OR, CONTEMPLATIVE MAN'S RECREATION in Two Parts. By the ingenious and celebrated Mr. Isaac Walton adn Charles Cotton, Esq. I. Being a Discourse of Rivers, Fish-ponds, Fish and Fishing. II. Instructions how to Angle for a Trout and Grayling in a Clear StreamCorrectly and very accurately published. (With Draughts of all the Fish; ornamented with a Number of Copper Plates, and a great Variety of useful and copious Notes.) By Moses Browne, Author of Piscatory Ecologues, &c. With the Laws Concerning Angling. And an Appendix which shews at one View, the proper Rivers, Haunts, Baits, Seasons, and Hours of biting: General Directions, &c. for every Fish that is to be angled for.With Short Rules relating to the Tackle, Baits,

Rare First Moses Browne Edition. Illustrated with ten copper-engraved plates by H. Burgh, 15 woodcuts in the text, one page of music and engraved head- and tailpieces. 12mo, bound in full contemporary polished calf, the covers double gilt fillet ruled at the borders, the spine raised bands separating the compartments, two compartments lettered in gilt. [xiv], 340, [viii, Index] pp. A well preserved copy, sometime respined, the text-block and illustrations clean and in good order, some offsetting to the title-page from the facing plate, the binding strong and the hinges tight.

Edizione: the second moses browne edition printed in 1754 and containing twenty eight pages more than the first, now rare in commerce. this copy in a contemporary binding. a beloved classic of the english language and what many call the finest "how-to" book ever written; walton's angler has been described as "full of wisdom, kindly humour, and charity; it is one of the most delightful and care-dispelling books in the language." "more than most authors he lives in his writings, which are the pure expression of a kind, humorous and pious soul in love with nature, while the expression itself is unique for apparent simplicity which is really elaborately studied art" (dnb). <br> after the 1676 edition of the compleat angler (the last walton published before his death in 1683), no new editions of the compleat angler were published for almost one hundred years. moses browne, editor of the 1750 edition, and john hawkins, editor of the 1760 edition, were likely both influenced to publish new editions of the angler by dr. samuel johnson, the famous literary master. browne produced a second edition of his version in 1759, leading to a dispute with hawkins, whose 1760 version was already being printed at the time. each editor boasted that their version was the only correct one, and browne accused hawkins of copying images and biographical information from his earlier version. despite this controversy, the 18th century editions introduced new context for the work in a new century, as well as contemporary illustrations, indicating the beginning of a revival for the compleat angler. university of pittsburgh