ll'alton 



Venables, has sometimes been referred to 

 as having been " drawn upon " by Wal- 

 ton ; but this could not have been the 

 case, as The Complete Angler was written 

 at least ten years prior to the publication 

 of the other. This erroneous supposition 

 may have obtained because of the fact 

 that a conjoint publication of The Complete 

 Angler and The Experienced Angler was 

 issued under the title of The Universal 

 Angler, to which, in a preface, the initials 

 " I. W." were appended. At all events, 

 Walton's book, with Cotton's contribution 

 embodied, had passed through several edi- 

 tions before the name of Venables was 

 heard of as a writer of authority on the 

 subject of the Gentle Art. 



Up to the time, therefore, of the publi- 

 cation of The Complete Angler, there was 

 really no work in existence to serve as a 

 vade-mecum for those whose favorite sport 

 was "to take fysshe," and for whom "the 

 blastes of homes and the scrytt of foules " 

 were but 



" As sounds that sting the tender sense 



With their discordant revel, 

 That bid no pain or passion hence, 

 But only raise the devil." 



There is no wonder that the book was so 

 quickly resorted to on its publication. As 



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