Walton, Izaak (1593-1683), was an English author best known for his book on fishing, The Compleat Angler. The work is a classic example of a pastoral (about rural life) book in English literature. The Compleat Angler was first published in 1653 and went through four revisions during the author’s lifetime. The book is written as a dialogue, primarily between Piscator, a fisherman, and Venator, a hunter. The Compleat Angler combines practical information about fish and fishing with songs, poems, and descriptions of country life and the English countryside. Walton also gained fame for his biographies, notably of the poets John Donne (1640, revised edition 1658) and George Herbert (1670); the clergymen Richard Hooker (1665) and Robert Sanderson (1678); and the diplomat and author Sir Henry Wotton (1651).
Walton was born on Aug. 9, 1593, in Stafford and became a wealthy London hardware merchant. He did not graduate from a university but read widely and became a friend of a number of famous men, including Donne and playwright Ben Jonson. He died on Dec. 18, 1683.
