52 IZAAK WALTON AND HIS FRIENDS 



favourite author of the last age who seemed 

 exposed to the unkindness of being forgotten. 

 He says he "pruned" away some inaccuracies 

 and redundancies and claimed to have used great 

 deliberation in these retouches ! The edition 

 brought out by Sir John Hawkins in 1760 con- 

 tains an account of the author's Lives, the informa- 

 tion given being derived from the researches made 

 by William Oldys. It was the late Mr William 

 John Thoms, formerly the editor of Notes and 

 Queries, who pointed out how much we owe to 

 William Oldys for information as to Walton and 

 Cotton.^ This Oldys was a curious character, but 

 little is known of his early life. He became the 

 keeper of Lord Oxford's library, and superin- 

 tended the publication of the Harleian Miscellany. 

 Formerly Norfolk Herald Extraordinary, but not 

 belonging to Heralds' College, he was appointed 

 Norroy King-of-Arms, by patent, in 1755. He 

 was fond of ale, but drinking it did not make 

 him inaccurate as a writer on our literary 

 history. Oldys had contracted to supply ten 

 years of the life of Shakespeare unknown to the 

 biographers, with one Walker, a bookseller in 

 the Strand ; but Oldys did not live to fulfil the 

 engagement (see Curiosities of Literature under 

 "Oldys and his Manuscripts"). 



Two small editions I value, one published by 



1 See on the subject Mr Marston's works on Walton. 



