One of the many joys of collecting antiquarian books is the occasions that you get to feel connected not just to an author, but to a long line of history itself. With the author Izaak Walton, this couldn't be more true.
Izaak Walton was, by profession, an ironmonger of London, circa sixteenth to seventeenth centuries, at the time of the English Civil war (the Royalist Cavaliers versus the Roundhead Protestants). Like, we have to assume, many middle-Englanders of his day it seems as though Izaak Walton must have felt drawn to quieter pleasures then warring. Walton is, of course, the author of The Compleat Angler - the 'bible' of fly-fishing, and the book that set the tone, format, and style for every future work on fishing, country sports, and wilderness books. In it, Walton uses a mixture of prose, poetry, and non-fiction writing to present a broad miscellany of poems, songs, phrases, observations and instructions for the life of the Angler. Although we may regard the book's subject as narrow, it's reach is wide - with the same kind of natural transcendentalism that we can see connecting the books sensibilities to Scottish writer of the wilderness John Muir, to New England 'huckleberry' philosopher Henry David Thoreau, or even the modern poets such as Edward Thomas, a finding of humanity and some sort of spiritual balance through an investigation of nature.
Understandably, a book with over a four-hundred-year pedigree is going to be expensive. Happily, however, over four hundred years of its history it has undergone a lot of publications. If you were able to find a copy dating back to the seventeenth century (Printed by T. Maxey for Rich. Marriot: London) then, if in fine fettle expect to pay in the tens of thousands of US dollars. Such a book would also require correct antiquarian book care. However, if choosing a latter edition, then the publication dates from 1820-60 are especially good volumes, printed in London: Dove or for many private presses. These latter volumes, if in fine condition would be worth somewhere in the region of $300 dollars or less.
If you are looking for a special treat, consider the Philadelphia: David Mackay edition, as late as 1931, but with the advantage of being lovingly illustrated by no less than Arthur Rackham, bound with an attractive green cloth and gilt design. A copy of this volume can be found for as little as $250 and is well worth the price!
Walton, Izaak. The Lives. Richard Marriot, London (1670). o Of Dr. John Donne, Sir Henry Wotton, Mr. Richard Hooker, Mr. George Herbert, And Dr. Robert Sanderson.o;oto which is added Some Letters Written by George at his being in Cambridge: with others to his mother, the Lady Magdalen Hergbert written by John Donne, afterwards Dean of St. Paul.o; illustrated with 4 full-page engraved portraits
Walton, Izaak. The Lives. Richard Marriott, London (1675). o Of Dr. John Donne, Sir Henry Wotton, Mr. Richard Hooker, Mr. George Herbert, And Dr. Robert Sanderson.o;4th edition; copperplate portraits of subjects
Walton, Izaak. The Life of Dr. Sanderson, Late Bishop of Lincoln. Richard Marriott, London (1678). oTo which is added, Some short Tracts or Cases of Conscience, written by the said Bishop.o
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Thomas Hope, London (1760). Charles Cotton, coauthor; oOr, the contemplative man's recreation being a discourse on rivers, fish-ponds, fish, and fishing in two partso; prefixed with lives of authors and notes, historical, critical, and explanatory by John Hawkins; Illustrated with 14 plates + text illustrations; 1st Hawkins edition, 9th overall
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. J. Rivington, London (1766). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Lives of the Authors by John Hawkins; oOr, Contemplative Man's Recreationo; illustrated with 30 copper plate illustrations; 2nd Hawkins edition
Walton , Izaak. The Compleat Angler. Mercier and Chervet (1808). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Lives of authors by Hawkins; 21 full-page engraved plates
Walton , Izaak. The Compleat Angler. Samuel Bagster, London (1808). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Lives of Authors and Notes by John Hawkins; 7th edition (Bagster's 1st); illustrated with bandw plates and text illustrations
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. S. Bagster, London (1810). Charles Cotton, coauthor; oOr, The Contemplative Man's Recreation, being a Discourse on Fish and Fishing; Facsimile of 1653 1st edition; Full-page engraved plates and text illustrations
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Bagster, London (1815). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Lives of authors and notes by John Hawkins; Edited with new notes by Henry Ellis; 2nd Bagster edition (8th overall); 15 full-page engraved plates and 17 silver engravings of fish
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. James Smith, London (1822). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Lives of authors and notes, historical, supplementary and explanatory by John Hawkins; oContemplative Man's Recreation Being a Discourse on Rivers, Fish-Ponds, Fish and Fishingo; 15 engraved plates
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler / The Lives. John Major, London (1823). o of Dr. John Donne, Sir Henry Wotton, Mr. Richard Hooker, Mr. George Herbert, and Dr. Robert Sanderson.o; Charles Cotton, coauthor of The Angler; Introductory essays and notes by John Major; 2 volumes; 14 engraved copper plates in Angler, 11 in Lives
Walton,Izaak. The Complete Angler. John Major, London (1824). Charles Cotton, coauthor; 2nd edition; 14 copperplates
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. Chiswick (1824). 2 volumes; 18 full-page engraved prints
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. John Major, London (1824). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Introduction by John Major; 77 woodcuts and 14 copper plates; 2nd John Major edition
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. C. Whittingham, London (1824). Charles Cotton, coauthor; oor, a Contemplative Man's Recreation Being a Discourse on Rivers, Fish-Ponds, Fish and Fishingo; 2 volumes
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. J.F.Dove, London (1825). Charles Cotton, coauthor; 4 engraved plates of fish (by Bewick)
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. William Pickering, London (1825). Charles Cotton, coauthor; illustrations by T. Stothard.; miniature edition; 1st Pickering edition
Walton, Izaak. The Lives. John Major, London (1825). o Of Dr. John Donne, Sir Henry Wotton, Mr. Richard Hooker, Mr. George Herbert, And Dr. Robert Sanderson.o; illustrated with 52 woodcuts, 11 copperplate engravings
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. C. and C. Whitingham, Chiswick (1826). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Lives of Authors and Notes, historical, critical and explanatory by John Hawkins; Illustrated with 30 wood-engravings in text; 2 volumes
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. William Pickering, London (1826). Charles Cotton, coauthor; oor, Contemplative Man?s Recreationo; 2nd Pickering miniature edition
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Thomas White, London (1826). Charles Cotton, coauthor; oor, Contemplative Man's Recreationo; Illustrated
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. William Pickering, London (1827). miniature edition; illustrated
Walton, Izaak. The Lives. William Pickering, London (1827). oDonne, Wotton, Hooker, Herbert and Sandersono; engraved frontispieces after Stothard
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. W. and R. Chambers, Edinburgh (1833). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Edited by James Rennie; Lives of authors and notes by John Hawkins; oor, Contemplative Man's Recreation Being a Discourse on Rivers, Fish-Ponds, Fish, and Fishingo; illustrated
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. J. Major, London (1835). Charles Cotton, coauthor; 14 copper plates, 77 in-text woodcuts; 2nd edition
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. William Pickering, London (1836). Charles Cotton, coauthor; oor Contemplative Man's Recreation; being a Discourse on Rivers, Fish-ponds, Fish, and Fishingo; Edited, with memoirs and notes, by Harris Nicholas; Illustrated with 48 engraved plates, portraits and music; 1st Nicholas edition; illustrated; 2 volumes
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Allan Bell and Co, London (1836). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Edited by James Rennie; With Lives and Notes by John Hawkins; oor, Contemplative Man's Recreation; being a Discourse on Rivers, Fish-ponds, Fish, and Fishing.o
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Chales Tilt, London (1837). Charles Cotton, coauthor; illustrated; 1 volume; miniature library edition; 1st edition with US imprint; Contains imprints of Charles Tilt, London; Menzies, Edinburgh; T. Wardle, Philadelphia
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Maurice, Clark, and Co, London (1839). Charles Cotton, coauthor; lives of the authors and notes by John Hawkins; oor, Contemplative Man's Recreation. Being A Discourse on Rivers, Fish-Ponds, Fish and Fishing.o; illustrated with 15 copperplate engravings and 76 in-text woodcuts; 1st Lewis edition
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. D Bogue, London (1844). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Edited by John Major; 12 full-page steel engravings, 74 woodcut text illustrations; 4th Major edition
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Strahan and Co, London (1844). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Edited and Introductory essay by John Major; oor, the Contemplative Man's Recreation.o; Deluxe edition limited to 250 numbered copies; 9 steel engravings, 74 in-text woodcuts
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Henry Kent Causton, London (1851). Charles Cotton, coauthor; oor, the Contemplative Man's Recreation.o; 85 copper and wood engravings by Wale and Nash
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Nathaniel Cooke, London (1854). Charles Cotton, coauthor; ; 3 engraved plates, 40 woodcut illustrations
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Nattali and Bond, London (1860). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Memoirs and notes by Harris Nicolas; oOr The Contemplative Man's Recreationo; 14 full-page plates and 47 smaller in-text illustrations by T. Stothard; 2 volumes; 2nd Nicolas reprint
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Henry G. Bohn, London (1861). Charles Cotton, Coauthor; Edited by Edward Jesse; oor the Contemplative Man's Recreationo; illustrated with 26 steel engraved plates and 203 wood engravings; 2nd printing of Jesse edition
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Little, Brown, and Co., Boston (1867). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Edited by John Major; Illustrated
Walton, Izaak; Cotton, Charles. The Complete Angler. Chatto and Windus, London (1875). Charles Cotton, coauthor; oor the Comtemplative Man's Recreation.o; Memoirs and notes by Harris Nicolas; 60 illustrations by Stothard and Inshipp
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Dodd Mead, New York (1880). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Edited by George Bethune; oor the Contemplative Man's Recreationo; 1st Berthune edition with additions and corrections; 2 volumes; illustrated
Walton, Izaak. His Wallet Booke.. Field and Tuer, Leadenhall Press, London (1885). Hand-coloured text illustrations by Joseph Crawhall
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. John C Nimmo (1885). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Limited edition of 120 numbered copies; extra illustrated edition with 50 steel engraved plates, 6 original etchings, 2 portraits, and 74 woodcut engravings
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Chatto and Windus, London (1887). Charles Cotton, coauthor; oor Contemplative Man's Recreationo; Memoirs and notes by Harris Nicolas; 60 illustrations by Stothard and Inskipp
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. Sampson Low, London (1888). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Preface and Edited by R.B. Marston; oOr the Comteplative Man's Recreationo; 27 photogravure plates by Peter Henry Emerson, 25 photogravure plates by George Bankart, 3 maps and 103 woodcuts; 2 volumes; Lea and Dove Edition limited edition, 100th edition; with illustrations printed on India paper and limited to 500 numbered copies signed by Marston
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. John C. Nimmo, London (1889). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Edited by John Major; with 'The Practical Fly-Fisher' by John Jackson; 8 etched plates and 74 wood engravings, 10 hand-coloured plates
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1889). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Introduction by James Russell Lowell; oOr The Contemplative Man's Recreationo; Deluxe limited edition of 150 numbered copies on large paper with signed plates; 15 plates, with 4 signed etchings by Harlow; 500 numbered copies, plates unsigned; 74 woodcut illustrations; 2 volumes
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. John C. Nimmo, London (1889). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Edited by John Major; 'The Practical Fly-Fisher' by John Jackson; Illustrated with 6 etchings, 2 portraits, 24 wood engravings; Reprint of the 4th Major edition;
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. A. C. McClurg and Company, Chicago (1893). Charles Cotton, Coauthor; Edited, with introduction, by Edward Gilpin Johnson; oOr The Contemplative Man's Recreationo; Limited edition of 500 numbered copies on large-paper
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Samuel Bagster and Sons, London (1893). Charles Cotton, Coauthor; Lives of the authors by Sir John Hawkins; Edited by J.E. Harting; oor Contemplative Man's Recreationo; Fifty-five illustrations after Alexander, Thomas, Wale, Samuel, Linnell, Lely, and Huysmun with engravings after drawings of riverside animals and birds by G. E. Lodge; limited edition of 350 numbered copies; Tercentenary Edition; 2 volumes
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. A. C. McClurg and Co., Chicago (1893). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Edited by Edward Gilpin Johnson; oOr the Contemplative Man's Recreationo; Limited edition of 500 numbered copies; 2 volumes
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. John C Nimmo (1896). Charles Cotton, coauthor; 7 full-page plates, in-text woodcuts
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. J. M. Dent, London (1896). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Edited with introduction by Andrew Lang; 88 woodcuts by Edmund J. Sullivan; oor the Contemplative Man's Recreationo
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. John Lane, London (1897). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Illustrated with 53 full-page illustrations and line drawings by Edmund H. New; Edited by Richard Le Gallienne
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. Freemantle, London (1902). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Edited by George A.B. Dewar; Edward Grey; Illustrated with 15 full-page etchings and smaller illustrations in-text by William Strane and D.Y. Cameron; Deluxe edition of 150 signed copies. 500 copies total; Winchester edition; 2 volumes
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. Hodder and Stoughton, London (1911). 25 colour plates by James Thorpe; oOr The Contemplative Man's Recreationo; limited edition of 250 numbered copies signed by the artist
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. Hodder and Stoughton, New York (1911). 16 colour plates by James Thorpe; oOr The Contemplative Man's Recreationo; trade edition
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Navarre Society, London (1925). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Edited by John Major; oOr The Contemplative Man's Recreationo;8 original etchings and 74 wood engravings by Danman
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. John Lane, London (1926). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Edited by Richard le Gallienne; Illustrated by Edmund H. New; with The Anglers' Calendar compiled by H.I. Regan; 4th impression;
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. Thornton Butterworth, London (1927). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Edited by John Major; Illustrated with 16 full-page wood engravings by E. Fitch Daglish; oOr, The Comteplative Man's Recreationo; limited edition of 100 numbered copies
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. C. E. Goodspeed and Co., Boston (1928). Charles Cotton, coauthor; oOr the Contemplative Man's Recreationo; 600 copies printed; Goodspeed Edition
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler / The Lives of Donne Wotton Hooker Herbert and Sanderson. The Nonesuch Press, London (1929). Edited by Geoffrey Keynes; Illustrated bywith 9 drawings by Thomas Poulton and 5 engraved portraits by Charles Sigrist; Limited edition of 1100 numbered copies and 500 for sale in US
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. Eyre and Spottiswoode, London (1930). Illustrated with 4 bandw and 13 lithographs, 9 in colour by Frank Adams; oor The Contemplative Man'so; Limited edition of 450 copies, signed by the artist (250 for UK, 200 for US)
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. David McKay Co., Philadelphia (1931). Charles Cotton, coauthor; 12 full-page colour illustrations by Rackham; Introduction by Henry Williamson; oor The Contemplative Man's Recreationo
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. George C. Harrap, London (1931). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Illustrated by Arthur Rackham with 12 full-colour plates and bandw drawings; De-luxe edition limited to 775 signed and numbered copies
Walton, Izaak. The Compleat Angler. Limited Editions Club, New York (1948). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Edited by James Russell Lowell; Illustrated with full-page etchings by Douglas Gorsline; Limited edition of 1500 copies, signed by illustrator
Walton, Izaak. The Complete Angler. Folio Society, London (1949). Charles Cotton, coauthor; Illustrated by Lynton Lamb