I have previously written that Washington State University, where I work, has a massive collection of rare angling texts housed in the Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections department. The collection includes over 15,000 items and continues to grow. Last week, I took the Honors College students enrolled in my class, “Religion, Sport, and Water: Contemplation and Play in ‘Nature,'” to see some of the texts.
The students just read the Middle English essay “A Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth and Angle” (late fifteenth c.), and Izaak Walton’s The Compleat Angler, or the Contemplative Man’s Recreation (1653) is next on their list. So it is no small thing for them to see and handle an incunable copy of the Treatyse (as included in The Boke of St Albans) and a first and many other editions of The Complete Angler.
Following are a few pictures taken during our visit. I’m grateful to Dr. Trevor James Bond, Associate Dean for Digital Initiatives and Special Collections, for welcoming the students to the collection. Dr. Bond is a passionate and engaging host.
Boke of St Albans, incunable.
First and other editions of The Compleat Angler (MASC holds 506 copies)
Dr. Bond engages students in discussion.
The shimmering quality of this hand-painted illustration in Freshwater Fishes, is due to the inclusion of ground fish scales in the paint.
The Literary Fly Fisher 
September 19, 2018 at 12:34 PM |
Loved my years as a library archival technician. Wonderful atmosphere presented by a tether, a line of full thoughts preserved and shared through most literal objects. Thanks for the tour.
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September 19, 2018 at 9:46 PM |
I would have loved that too! Sometimes I just love sitting among my books.
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