THE ANGLER'S SOUVENIR is a memorable example of the preference
of fashion to " the eternal fitness of things." Following the order of nature, an Angler's Annual should have appeared in the spring, when the "gentle craft' were preparing for that sport which is death to fishes; but it is usual to publish Annuals in the winter, and cus- tom triumphs over reason. Or perhaps Mr. TILT thought to solace the brothers by rernhiding them of the reality they could no longer enjoy. Thus much by way of proem. The first volume of the intended series properly consists of a treatise on the art of angling, ad- dressed rather to the amateur than the uninitiated, in the form of a lively, gossiping discourse, emulating the familiar style of old IZAAK WALTON, but with a more robust sense of enjoyment and boisterous animal spirits than characterized the patient sim- plicity and calm contentment of the patriarch of angling and its literature. The quality of the different fish—the rivers where they abound—the time when, and the baits and tackle with which to take them—and the local conveniences—arc all fully discussed. The dryness of mere technicalities is avoided, by their being inter- woven with graphic descriptions of scenery and the sport, and amusing anecdotes of anglers and angling ; so that, like NIMROD'S letters on Hunting, the reading is not without attractions for those unskilled in the "craft." The editor might almost be styled the author ; for he has embodied the written contributions of other experienced brothers of the angle, some of whom are more expert at wielding the trouting-rod than than the pen.
The book is very tastefully got up. It is printed in a type of curious fashion—a sort of ltalianized Roman letter, thin where others are thick, like Dr. CHALMERS'S contradiction-loving auto- graph. Each page is surrounded by appropriate devices, fancifully designed and neatly cut in wood; and they are frequently inter- spersed with fresh and glowing little vignettes of landscapes, anglers, and fish, designed by TOPHAM, and slightly but freely engraved on copper by BECKWITH. The pike and trout, after ABRAHAM COOPER, are beautiful.
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