THE COMPLEAT ANGLER.
The Compleat Angler. By Mr. Izaak Walton. The Winchester Edition, edited by George A. B. Dewar, with an Essay by Sir Edward Grey, Bart. 2 vols. (Freemantle and Co. £2 2s.)— This very handsome edition of an immortal and classic work is an exact reprint, so far as the text is concerned, of the fifth (1676) edition, which was the last that was published in the author's life- time,—the first edition came out in 1653. The hundredth edition, as Mr. Marston, the editor, called it (with what reason we know not), appeared in 1888. Since then five or six more editions have been issued to an ever-appreciative public. It is often said that The Compleat Angler has become so famous because it is read by persons who are not anglers. Whether this is so, we wonder; whether they can really enjoy it, we much doubt. Mr. Dewar, who has written an introduction and a few notes for this edition, must be congratulated on having (in- credible as it may seem) unearthed a small contribution for Walton's biography. He has discovered, preserved by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, a lease of Northampton Farm at Overton in Hants, dated 1683, of which Izaak Walton was tenant. There is still an old house by the Test, now the property of Mr. Portal, and a new spot has been added to the list of places to which Waltonians may make a pilgrimage. Mr. Dewar is well fitted in every way to edit this Winchester edition. Sir Edward Grey's essay is very charming, but very much too short. The volumes are illustrated by Rembrandtesque etchings by Mr. W. Strang and Mr. D. Y. Cameron. There are also portraits of Walton and Cotton, whose contribution on fishing in a clear stream is included. The edition is in every way a worthy and pleasing one.
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