Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Walton, Izaak; [Arthur Rackham]. The Compleat Angler. George C. Harrap & Co., London, 1931.
Price: US$895.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Full Title: "Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man's Recreation being a Discourse of Rivers, Fishponds, Fish and Fishing not unworthy the Perusal of most Anglers." Original publisher's full vellum, gilt stamped title and vignette, top edge gilt, others untrimmed with many pages being uncut, (10.5 x 8.25 inches). Deluxe Limited Edition, one of 775 copies, SIGNED by Arthur Rackham on limitation page. 223 pages; Illustrated title-page in green and black, 12 tissue-protected colored plates, many b&w in-text illustrations, pictorial endpapers all by Rackham. Showing only light wear and moderate spotting heaviest in upper corners, interior text and all plates are clean and bright, Armorial Bookplate of M. Warner Riddle on front free fly. Overall, a collectable, clean, tight copy unread copy of a desirable and sought-after title for the Walton or Rackham collector. Size: Quarto
Seller: Books & Bidders Antiquarian Booksellers, Cleveland, OH, U.S.A.
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Description: 224 pp. With twelve color plates by Arthur Rackham, each with captioned tissue overleaf. 4to, publisher's full gilt vellum, in publisher's slipcase. First edition; No. 198 of 775 copies, signed by Arthur Rackham. A beautiful, fine copy except for a significant bump that affects the top 1/2 inch of the spine and a corresponding (but larger) area at one corner of the slipcase. The numbered slipcase is lightly soiled, but sound at all joints.
Seller: Jeffrey H. Marks, Rare Books, ABAA, Rochester, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$2000.00 + shipping
Description: Deluxe signed limited edition of Arthur Rackham's wonderfully illustrated rendition of The Compleat Angler. Quarto, original publisher's full vellum decorated in gilt, pictorial endpapers, illustrated by Arthur Rackham with 12 full-page color plates and 25 in-text line cuts. One of seven hundred and seventy-five numbered copies signed by Arthur Rackham, this is number 143. In fine condition. An exceptional example. Though intended in part as a practical guide for fishermen, the lasting influence of The Compleat Angler stems from its qualities as a work of literature: it is arguably the best long prose-pastoral in English. This edition is based on the Richard La Gallienne edition of 1897, which, in turn, relies on the text of the fifth edition of 1676, the last to be revised by Walton himself. It is the first to be illustrated by Arthur Rackham, whose âfanciful imagination gave his illustrations instant recognition, and his dedication to illustration kept him in the public eye for 30 yearsâ (Hodnett, 233).
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.