The Art of Angling
The Art of Angling is an 18th century guidebook on fish and fishing strategies (Macdonald B570). It is richly illustrated with more than 130 woodcut images of freshwater and saltwater fish and brought together natural history and recreational fishing, functioning as a field guide and resource for non-specialists.
The 1740 edition is generally considered to be the first edition of the book and is a rarity even within the rare book community. It was published in a relatively small printing, and as it was heavily used by anglers, few complete copies remain.
- Whale
- Turtle
- Sole and eal
- Doree
Fun fact!
One of the creatures found within the pages of this rare gem is the cuttlefish. Known as the Sepia (Sepia officinalis), it was highly prized for its ink sacs from which sepia was derived.
The ink had a reddish-brown colour and was a popular drawing ink from the Renaissance onward and as a watercolour medium. It was even used by Leonardo da Vinci for some of his sketches.
Carl Linnaeus's classification system became universally adopted gradually after his Species Plantarum was published in 1753. This means that the publication of The Art of Angling in 1740 took place during the early Linnaean era. It sits right on the boundary between traditional natural history and modern scientific natural history.
The Library's copy is from the private collection of Hugh Macdonald, who was an English scholar and bibliographer of Dryden, Hobbes and Locke.
Call number: Macdonald B570
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