Gone Fishing! The Library Celebrates the 350th Anniversary of Izaak Walton’s The Compleat Angler

Exhibition on Definitive Work on Fishing Opens February 28

Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton. The Complete Angler. 2 vols. London: [Charles Wittingham for] William Pickering, 1836. Rare Books Division. The New York Public Library.
New York, NY, February 20, 2003 -- On the topic of fishing, or angling to be precise, Izaak Walton’s The Compleat Angler has no equal. More a celebration of the joys of fishing than a how-to book, Walton’s tome, first published in 1653, has remained in print to the present day. The exhibition Izaak Walton’s The Compleat Angler, 1653-2003, presents a variety of editions across the centuries, from the first to early 20th-century editions, along with some of his other works, and examples of artwork that bring angling, or “the contemplative man’s recreation,” as Walton called it, to life. Drawn entirely from the collections of The New York Public Library, the exhibition opens on February 28 in the Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III Gallery in the Humanities and Social Sciences Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. It will remain on view through June 14. Admission is free.

In its earliest incarnation, the book tells the story of Piscator (the Angler) and Viator (the Wayfarer) who meet one morning in May and, leaving London, enjoy a long walk in the English countryside, discussing the joys of fishing. The type of fishing Walton (1593-1683) loved was angling for trout and other freshwater fish. He used a long rod of spliced ash and hazelwood, fitted out with a line made of woven horsehair, and live bait such as flies and worms. Walton continued to rework and expand his book, which by the second edition grew from 15 to 22 chapters. The protagonists became three: Piscator (the Angler), Venator (the Hunter), and Auceps (the Falconer). From the fifth edition on, Walton’s text was augmented by Charles Cotton’s (1630-1687) treatise on angling with dry flies. Beyond technique, The Compleat Angler includes poems such as “The Milkmaid’s Song” and “The Angler’s Song.”

After a 75-year slumber, The Compleat Angler was revived in the mid-18th century and enjoyed a particular level of publishing and editorial interest in the 19th and early 20th centuries. On view are numerous posthumous editions including one published in Germany in 1859, the first translation of Walton’s Angler into any language. Other copies on display range from the first edition published by John Major in 1823 and still bound in the plain boards in which it was issued, to elaborately bound luxury editions such as a sumptuously illustrated one issued by the Bagster firm in 1893.

Izaak Walton was nearly 60 years old when The Compleat Angler first appeared; during his lifetime there were five editions, continuously rewritten and expanded by the author. All five are on view. Though best known as the author of The Compleat Angler, Walton was one of the earliest English biographers, whose work included a biography of John Donne. Among the 34 objects on view are autograph presentation copies of some of Walton’s biographies, including two copies of The Lives of Dr. John Donne, Sir Henry Wotton, Mr. Richard Hooker, Mr. George Herbert, both signed by the author and one bearing autograph corrections scattered throughout the text.

Izaak Walton’s The Compleat Angler, 1653-2003 is curated by H. George Fletcher, Brooke Russell Astor Director for Special Collections.

Izaak Walton’s The Compleat Angler, 1653-2003 will be on view from February 28 through June 14, 2003, at The New York Public Library’s Humanities and Social Sciences Library in the Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III Gallery. Exhibition hours are Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; closed Sundays, Mondays, and national holidays. The Library will be closed Saturday, May 24 through Monday, May 26, for Memorial Day weekend. Admission is free. For more information about exhibitions at The New York Public Library, the public may call 212.869.8089 or visit the Library’s website at www.nypl.org.

Support for The New York Public Library’s Exhibitions Program has been provided by Pinewood Foundation and by Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III.

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Contact: Sabina Potaczek 212.221.7676 or 212.704.8600

 

 

 

 

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