WALTON’S COMPLEAT ANGLER, WITH RACKHAM ILLUSTRATIONS

(RACKHAM, Arthur, illustrator) WALTON, Izaak. The Compleat Angler or the Contemplative Man's Recreation… Illustrated by Arthur Rackham. Philadelphia: David McKay Co., [circa 1931]. Small quarto, original black straight-grain morocco gilt, pictorial endpapers, top edge gilt. $950.

Early American trade edition, illustrated by Rackham with 12 color plates and 25 black-and-white line drawings, in deluxe publisher’s morocco.

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 we have. The text of this edition is based on the Richard La Gallienne edition of 1897, which, in turn, reprinted the text of the fifth edition of 1676, the last to be revised by Walton himself. See Latimore & Haskell, 66-67; Riall, 175.

Corners gently rubbed. A handsome copy.