The " Commendatory Verses." 239 



the first edition of the Angler was pub- 

 lished in 1653, the second, published in 

 1655, contained commendatory verses 

 from seven of Walton's friends not in the 

 first, although one of these addresses, 

 " To the Readers of my most ingenuous 

 Friends Book, The Compleat Angler" 

 written by Edward Powel, M.A., is dated 

 April 3rd, 1650. 



In these verses the writer refers to 

 Walton's "matchless Lives of Donne and 

 Wotton " ; " but the latter was not pub- 

 lished until 1651, so that there appears to 

 be a mistake in a date ; and yet "April 3rd, 

 1650," appears again with Powel's verses 

 in the fifth edition in 1676, and surely 

 would have been corrected had it been 

 an error of the printer. 



Hear what these friends of Walton say 

 in a few extracts from their lines : 



41 To the Reader of ' The Compleat Angler' 



" First mark the Title well ; ray friend that gave it 

 Has made it good ; this book deserves to 



have it. 



For he that views it with judicious looks, 

 Shall find it full of art, baits, lines and hooks. 

 The world the river is ; both you and I, 

 And all mankind, are either fish or fry : 

 If we pretend to reason, first or last 

 His baits will tempt us, and his hooks hold 



fast " CH. HARVIE, M.A. 



