Introduction to the Compleat Angler — Context and Discussion

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Authors: Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2000 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Fishing; Walton, Izaak, 1593-1683. Compleat angler Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

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Words 14,791

Reading time 65 min

Text sections 2

This digital edition of Introduction to the Compleat Angler — Context and Discussion is described by source-level measurements including 14,791 words, 1 hr 5 min estimated reading time, and 2 detected text sections.

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Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Fishing,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #2422

Andrew Lang's introduction to Izaak Walton's classic, tracing Walton's life, character, and the sources of The Compleat Angler, with a focus on the 15th-century Treatise of Fishing and Walton's gentle, enduring spirit.

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There was no new edition of Walton till Moses Browne (by Johnson's desire) published him, with 'improvements,' in 1750. Then came Hawkins's edition in 1760. Johnson said of Hawkins, 'Why, ma'am, I believe him to be an honest man at the bottom; but, to be sure, he is penurious, and he is mean, and it must be owned he has a degree of brutality, and a tendency to savageness, that cannot easily be defended.'

This was hardly the editor for Izaak! However, Hawkins, probably by aid of Oldys the antiquary (as Mr. Marston shows), laid a good foundation for a biography of Walton. Errors he made, but Sir Harris Nicolas has corrected them. Johnson himself reckoned Walton's _Lives_ as 'one of his most favourite books.' He preferred the life of Donne, and justly complained that Walton's story of Donne's vision of his absent wife had been left out of a modern edition. He explained Walton's friendship with persons of higher rank by his being 'a great panegyrist.'

The eighteenth century, we see, came back to Walton, as the nineteenth has done. He was precisely the author to suit Charles Lamb. He was reprinted again and again, and illustrated by Stoddart and others. Among his best editors are Major (1839), 'Ephemera' (1853), Nicolas (1836, 1860), and Mr. Marston (1888).

The only contemporary criticism known to me is that of Richard Franck, who had served with Cromwell in Scotland, and, not liking the aspect of changing times, returned to the north, and fished from the Esk to Strathnaver. In 1658 he wrote his _Northern Memoirs_, an itinerary of sport, heavily cumbered by dull reflections and pedantic style. Franck, however, was a practical angler, especially for salmon, a fish of which Walton knew nothing: he also appreciated the character of the great Montrose. He went to America, wrote a wild cosmogonic work, and _The Admirable and Indefatigable Adventures of the Nine Pious Pilgrims_ (one pilgrim catches a trout!) (London, 1708). The _Northern Memoirs_ of 1658 were not published till 1694. Sir Walter Scott edited a new issue, in 1821, and defended Izaak from the strictures of the salmon-fisher. Izaak, says Franck, 'lays the stress of his arguments upon other men's observations, wherewith he stuffs his indigested octavo; so brings himself under the angler's censure and the common calamity of a plagiary, to be pitied (poor man) for his loss of time, in scribbling and transcribing other men's notions. . . . I remember in Stafford, I urged his own argument upon him, that pickerel weed of itself breeds pickerel (pike).' Franck proposed a rational theory, 'which my Compleat Angler no sooner deliberated, but dropped his argument, and leaves Gesner to defend it, so huffed away. . . . ' 'So note, the true character of an industrious angler more deservedly falls upon Merrill and Faulkner, or rather Izaak Ouldham, a man that fished salmon with but three hairs at hook, whose collections and experiments were lost with himself,'--a matter much to be regretted. It will be observed, of course, that hair was then used, and gut is first mentioned for angling purposes by Mr. Pepys. Indeed, the flies which Scott was hunting for when he found the lost Ms. of the first part of _Waverley_ are tied on horse-hairs. They are in the possession of the descendants of Scott's friend, Mr. William Laidlaw. The curious angler, consulting Franck, will find that his salmon flies are much like our own, but less variegated. Scott justly remarks that, while Walton was habit and repute a bait-fisher, even Cotton knows nothing of salmon. Scott wished that Walton had made the northern tour, but Izaak would have been sadly to seek, running after a fish down a gorge of the Shin or the Brora, and the discomforts of the north would have finished his career. In Scotland he would not have found fresh sheets smelling of lavender.

Walton was in London 'in the dangerous year 1655.' He speaks of his meeting Bishop Sanderson there, 'in sad-coloured clothes, and, God knows, far from being costly.' The friends were driven by wind and rain into 'a cleanly house, where we had bread, cheese, ale, and a fire, for our ready money. The rain and wind were so obliging to me, as to force our stay there for at least an hour, to my great content and advantage; for in that time he made to me many useful observations of the present times with much clearness and conscientious freedom.' It was a year of Republican and Royalist conspiracies: the clergy were persecuted and banished from London.

No more is known of Walton till the happy year 1660, when the king came to his own again, and Walton's Episcopal friends to their palaces. Izaak produced an 'Eglog,' on May 29:--

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Andrew Lang opens his introduction to The Compleat Angler with a self-deprecating admission: “To write on Walton is, indeed, to hold a candle to the sun.” He then sets a modest goal: to summarize the known events of Walton’s long life and to comment on his character as displayed in his biographies and in The Compleat Angler, with notes on ancient and modern fishing practices. Lang draws heavily on the work of earlier editors, especially Sir Harris Nicolas, and he is careful to distinguish what is known from what is conjectured. The tone is scholarly but accessible, and Lang’s own voice emerges in his wry observations about Walton’s placid nature amid a turbulent century.

Walton’s Life and Character

Lang traces Walton’s biography from his birth in Stafford in 1593 to his death in 1683, noting that he lived through the reigns of Elizabeth, James I, Charles I, the Commonwealth, and Charles II. This “anxious and changeful age” contrasts sharply with Walton’s “very pacific character and tranquil pursuits.” Lang admits that little is known of Walton’s education—he may have read Latin, but most books he cited had English translations. The question of Walton’s religious formation is left open: “Did he learn his religion from ‘his mother or his nurse’?” Lang speculates that had Walton been orphaned, he might have been less amenable to authority and less a model of Anglican virtues. He also examines Walton’s early literary connections, including a dedication to “Iz. Wa.” in a 1619 edition of The Loves of Amos and Laura, which suggests Walton was already a rhymer by his twenties.

The Compleat Angler and Its Sources

Lang addresses the charge of plagiarism leveled against Walton by his contemporary Franck, arguing that Walton was a “plagiary in the same sense as Virgil and Lord Tennyson and Robert Burns.” He demonstrates that The Compleat Angler is “the child of a few” earlier works. The opening dialogue echoes a 1599 treatise, and the famous description of the angler’s joys closely follows a 15th-century manuscript attributed to Dame Juliana Barnes: “He schall have holsom walke and mery at his owne ease, and also many a sweyt eayr of divers erbis and flowres.” Lang quotes Walton’s list of twelve flies and shows it is nearly a word-for-word transcript of the earlier Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle. Yet Walton does not cite this ancient source, instead crediting Mr. Thomas Barker. Lang’s point is not to diminish Walton but to place him in a tradition of borrowing and adaptation.

Walton’s Enduring Appeal

Lang portrays Walton as a kind of antithesis to John Knox—a man not to be approached for new ideas, but one who can “teach us to endure, and even to enjoy, the world.” He quotes Walton’s own description of a happy life from the Lives: “love them so as not to be concerned whether the rest of mankind waste their days in sorrow or shame.” Lang finds in Walton a model of contentment, and he closes this section with a couplet from the poet: “Even the ashes of the just / Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust.” The tone is elegiac but not sentimental; Lang respects Walton’s limitations while celebrating his gentle wisdom.

The Vernal Spirit of Early English Prose

Lang identifies in the 15th-century Treatyse “the very ‘sprite’ of Walton”—a “vernal and matutinal air of opening European literature, full of birds’ music, and redolent of dawn.” He contrasts this with the age following Walton, which “would not listen” to such a note. Lang’s own prose here becomes lyrical, echoing the quality he admires. He notes that Walton’s work, though derivative in parts, captures a freshness that later generations lost. This section serves as a reminder that Lang’s introduction is not merely a scholarly apparatus but a piece of criticism that seeks to convey the aesthetic pleasure of Walton’s world.

Editorial Method and Acknowledgments

Lang is transparent about his debts: “Like all editors of Walton, he owes much to his predecessors, Sir John Hawkins, Oldys, Major, and, above all, to the learned Sir Harris Nicolas.” He explains that he has been content to give a summary of the chief events in Walton’s life, adding a notice of his character and comments on fishing practices. The introduction is based on the 1896 J. M. Dent edition, transcribed by David Price. Lang does not claim originality; instead, he positions himself as a conduit for earlier scholarship. This humility is consistent with his opening metaphor of holding a candle to the sun.

Lang’s introduction is best read as a companion piece to The Compleat Angler itself, not as a substitute. He provides historical context without overwhelming the reader, and his critical judgments are offered with a light touch. For those new to Walton, Lang’s essay clarifies the book’s sources and its author’s character. For those already familiar, it offers a thoughtful meditation on why Walton’s gentle voice has endured. The introduction rewards careful reading alongside the main text, especially the passages where Lang compares Walton’s prose to its 15th-century antecedents.

That rainy afternoon, Lang's introduction made Walton feel like a quiet companion — someone who preferred patience to haste. His gentle tracing of the old treatise reminded me how endings often hide beginnings. Later, idly, I found myself turning to The Puzzle of Dickens's Last Plot — A Closer Reading, wondering if that unfinished mystery held a similar, patient key.