PREFACE 



This edition of Blakey's Angling will be to a number 

 of men now no longer in their golden youth an old and 

 welcome friend with a new face. It was an immensely 

 popular work when some of us were boys, and, as fre- 

 quent inquiries now make manifest, it is also known and 

 appreciated by the younger generation of anglers. In 

 these days, when books on iish and fishing have increased 

 so greatly, and are yet issuing with steady evidence of 

 popularity from the press, it says much for Blakey that 

 his memory still lives. The appended Memoir will 

 sufficiently indicate some of the reasons why a new 

 edition is offered to the public. The difficulty of dealing 

 with a book that in some respects must be out of date 

 has been met, so to speak, by interfering with the text as 

 little as possible. Where corrections or explanations are 

 considered necessary, they are furnished in Notes at the 

 ends of the chapters ; and with regard to Part II., 

 where such treatment was not practicable, the reader is 

 offered friendly advice in what is termed " A Necessary 

 Foreword." The individuality of Blakey is thus pre- 

 served in the work, which must be now regarded as an 

 interesting contribution to Angling literature rather than 

 as a didactic modern exposition of how and where to 

 fish. Four-and-forty years ago Blakey was accepted as 

 guide in these matters; in 1898 we greet him chiefly as 

 philosopher and friend. 



