Ixxxii BIBLIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE. 



be wished ; yet because of his beautiful embalmment of 

 our favorite book, we yield to his deprecatory wish, that 

 " the ROD of the critic may be exchanged for that of the 

 fisher, and endless be the captives of Walton's imperish- 

 able LINE." The edition was printed by Nicol for Bogue : 

 London. 



In 1836, Professor Rennie edited the Angler after 

 Sir John Hawkins, with notes, principally on the Natural 

 History, but not so well as a professed angler and zoologist 

 should have done. 



Various other editions have from time to time been 

 published, in various forms, by various booksellers, but the 

 most magnificent of all is that by Sir Harris Nicholas, for 

 Pickering, in 1830. It contains ccxii. pages, devoted to 

 Lives, &c., of Walton and Cotton, the most elaborate, 

 correct, and satisfactory that have ever appeared, and 436 

 of the two parts of the Angler, with notes, &c., besides 

 an Index to the whole, very complete and accurate, in 36 

 pages. The page is tall imperial octavo, the type (except- 

 ing the Index) very large, the paper thick and fine. 

 Liberal literary illustrations are given, with great taste 

 and care. The engravings, by the best artists, after 

 designs by the best pencils, are most of them exceedingly 

 beautiful, and the fish live on the page. Sir Harris un- 

 fortunately is not an angler himself, but the notes relative 

 to the art were selected by Mr. Pickering, who delights 

 in the title of " an old angler and bibliopolist ;" and 

 we can readily believe " that it was to his old friend, Mr. 

 Pickering, literally a labor of love. Neither time nor 

 expense was spared to produce an edition of the Complete 

 Angler worthy of the state of the Arts in the present day, 

 and of the importance which was, in his opinion, due to 

 the subject : and during seven years, in which the work 

 has been in progress, his ardor never for a moment 

 abated." Subsequently, upwards of thirty additional plates 



