THE ANGLER'S COMPANION: THE LORE OF FISHING. Compiled by Brian Murphy.

1978 1st edition. 8vo (143 x 216mm). Pp352. B/w illustrations, pictorial end-papers. Peach boards, spine titled in gilt.

A good collection of the best fishing tales from literary as well as piscatorial giants. "The Angler's Companion is a treasury of the finest fishing writing of all time. It contains a rich and entertaining variety of angling stories, anecdotes, poems and articles by an impressive array of the world's great writers. Here is the lore and tradition; the skill and passion; the anticipation and joy; the humor and pathos of the world of angling. It is not surprising that so diverse a sport has inspired such an abundance of literature. There are famous fishing stories such as R.D. Blackmore's 'Crocker's Hole,' which have become classics of the genre. There are humorous tales from Rudyard Kipling and Henry van Dyke. There is a wealth of lore and tradition from such great anglers as Izaak Walton and H.D. Thoreau. And there are the works of the literary giants through the ages: Theocritus, Washington Irving, Sir Walter Scott, John Keats, Robert Louis Stevenson, Guy de Maupassant, Anton Chekhov, Ernest Hemingway and many more."