Walton, Izaak & Charles Cotton.. The Complete Angler; or, Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being A Discourse on Rivers, Fish-Ponds, Fish and Fishing. By Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton. With Notes Biographical and Explanatory, and the Lives of the Authors.. London: L. A. Lewis, 125, Fleet-Street. MDCCCXXXIX. (1839). London: Printed by Maurice, Clark, and Co., Howford-buildings, Fenchurch-street. First Lewis Edition., 1839.

Price: US$500.00 + shipping

Description: Size of binding: 5 1/8 in. x 7 7/8 in. x 1 1/2 in. (thick), half-title; facsimile of 1653 title, with tissue guard (some brown-spotting/foxing present), printed titlepage, biographical memoir title; engraved portrait of Walton (foxing present, lacking guard), engraved plate of Walton's house with tissue guard (foxing present), engraved portrait of Cotton, with guard (plate shows a few brown spots, tear to fore-edge of guard); "Descriptive List of The Embellishments" & List of Copperplates. lxxii + [20]pp., including Walton's "Epistle", and the lists of illustrations; [1]-396 pp. (including notes & index). Illustrated with 15 copperplate engravings (see list, given below), and 76 woodcuts, throughout the text. Lives of Walton & Cotton are signed with the initials : J. H. (Sir John Hawkins). Bound in dark blue-green, ribbed cloth (which appears rippled in the scan), with gilt-lettered titling on the spine: THE COMPLETE ANGLER WALTON & COTTON, within an elaborate gilt design featuring a fountain, leaf & seashell forms, and details of early fishing flies, reel, creel, a fish hung by a cord, etc. on the spine; the covers feature a gold-stamped, blocked, Early Victorian design of a standing heron on a fountain-base, with other angling details present, including: net, gaff, fishing-rod with line, creel, with insects posed on tendrils (flies), small, hanging fish, as part of a leaf-form arabesque design (see scan); all edges gilt, light yellow, coated paper endpapers. Top and lower spine ends show some light, age-related wear, with chipping away of cloth, a split to the cloth on outer hinge along spine, two tiny holes to cloth on outer back hinge along spine; upper cover corners show small bumps, light wear, rubbing to cover corners, edges. Page margins show age-related tanning. Most copperplates show some degree of brown-spotting, or general foxing; bookseller's penciled notations on reverse of the front endpaper. Scarce first (1839) Lewis edition, based on Major's third edition (1835). (Allibone's Dictionary of Authors, Philadelphia, 1899; vol. 3, pp.2564-2567, for entire article on Walton; this lists there as number XXIII. Fine example of an Early Victorian gold-stamped cloth binding with an angling theme. The scan shows the binding. [List of] Copperplates: 1. Fac-Simile of the Original Title-Page to the Complete Angler, prefixed to the First Edition in 1653. Copied by B. Gibbon. [frontispiece] 2. Portrait of Izaak Walton. Painted by Houseman, Engraved by C. Rolls. Page iii. 3. Ancient Houses at the south-west corner of Chancery-Lane, Fleet-Street, including the Residence of Izaak Walton; which appears on the left, behind the two female figures. Etched by J. T. Smith, Esq., Keeper of the Prints and Drawings in the British Museum, from an Original Drawing by Himself, taken on the spot in May, 1794. Communicated by H. Ellis, Esq., F. A. S., &c., Keeper of the MSS. In the British Museum. [page iv] 4. Portrait of Charles Cotton, of Beresford-Hall, in the County of Stafford, Esq. From an Original Miniature Painting, now first engraved by J. H. Robinson. Page lvii. "The Reader will observe that the following Series of illustrative Designs, are copied from those by S. Wale and W. W. Ryland, which have for so long been appropriately connected with the Complete Angler." 5. The Greeting. Engraved by W. R. Smith. Page 1. 6. The Hostess. Engraved by W. R. Smith. Page 54. 7. The Milk-Maid’s Song. Engraved by W. R. Smith. Page 74. 8. The Breakfast. Engraved by W. R. Smith. Page 99. 9. Music to the Song of “Hermit Poor,” Composed by Nich. Laneare. Reduced and Engraved by R. Ashby. Page 111. 10. The Angler’s Song. Engraved by W. R. Smith. Page 203. 11. Music to the Angler’s Song. Composed by H. Lawes. Reduced and Engraved by R. Ashby. Page 203. 12. Portrait of Dr. Thomas Wharton. Engraved by W. H. Worthington, from a Picture in the College of Physicians. Page 226. 13. The Farewell. Engraved by C. Pye. Page 244. 14. The Fly-making. Engraved by W.Ra

Seller: Peter Keisogloff Rare Books, Inc., Brecksville, OH, U.S.A.