112 ANCIENT ANGLING AUTHORS 



seems to have found in angling : " A rest to his 

 mind, a cheerer of his spirits, a divertion of sadness, 

 a calmer of unquiet thoughts, a moderator of passions, 

 a procurer of contentedness." 



The facsimile reproduction of the frontispiece by 

 Vaughan, which faces this page, is a photograph from 

 a copy of the first edition of Venables' book in the 

 Bodleian Library. It gives a very good idea of the 

 tackle of the period. The knob at the butt of the 

 rod on the extreme left of the plate closely resembles 

 the rubber button which has recently been added to 

 spinning rods, an addition which tackle-makers now- 

 adays claim as quite a recent invention. The osier 

 pannier is practically unaltered at the present time. 

 The figure of a winch at the top of the plate is a 

 great improvement on the unintelligible diagram 

 with which Barker's book is illustrated. 



In his preface Venables thus quaintly describes the 

 advantages of angling : 



Further, these delights [hunting and hawking] are 

 often prejudicial to the Husbandman in his corn, grass 

 and fences ; but in this pleasant and harmless Art of 

 Angling a man hath none to quarrel with but himself, 

 and we are usually so entirely our own friends, as 

 not to retain an irreconcileable hatred against our 

 selves, but can in short time easily compose the 

 enmity; and besides our selves none are offended, 

 none endamaged ; and this Recreation falleth within 

 the capacity of the lowest fortune to compass, afford- 

 ing also profit as well as pleasure. 



Following the preface there is a letter from 



