A TREASURY OF FISHING STORIES. Compiled by Charles E. Goodspeed. Illustrated by Everett Ward.

(1946) 2001 FCL edition. 4to (158 x 210mm). Ppxviii,600,ad. B/w vignettes by E. Ward, marbled end papers. Full bonded leather gilt. Edition limited to 500 copies.

The most scholarly of all anthologies by this distinguished American author. First published in 1946 this is a book of entertainment and refreshment. There are 107 selections which have been carefully chosen to combine individual merit with a sense of unity which makes the book more than just a collection of stories. This beautiful volume - probably the finest fishing anthology ever published - should prove a never-ending source of delight to anyone fortunate enough to handle and read it. "The garrulous Charles Goodspeed's A Treasury of Fishing Stories (The Flyfisher's Classic Library) must set some record for range. This anthology, first published in 1946 - perhaps to remind the hordes of demobbed soldiers and sailors about a peaceful pastime - is bursting with what may be the oddest, most enjoyable lot of fishing tales ever assembled. Izaak Walton, William Scrope, Francis Francis, Henry Van Dyke, G. E. M. Skues, Ray Bergman, Howard T. Walden, Jr. and Zane Grey will raise eyebrows. But Theocritus? Cotton Mather? The Brothers Grimm? James Russell Lowell? Rudyard Kipling? Majorie Kinnan Rawlings? That is to cast a wide net. [Isn't this why you would want this book in the first place?] I fish around pretty hard in fishing books, but there are dozens of gems here I would not have found on my own". (Gray's Sporting Journal, 2002).