Mirror of Literature,  12 (1828), 51–53.

Days of Fly Fishing

Anon

Genre:

Review; Extract

Publications reviewed:

[Davy] 1828

Subjects:

Societies, Status, Hunting, Pharmaceuticals, Chemistry, Military Technology, Natural History, Natural Philosophy, Causation, Reading Amusement, Education, Zoology, Physiology, Cruelty, Entomology

People mentioned:

Richard Watson , William Babington

Publications cited:

[Berkeley 1744] , Walton 1653


    Observes that an ex-president of the Royal Society (i.e. Humphry Davy) writing a book on 'field sports' might 'at first sight appear rather unphilosophical', and recounts some similarly incongruous instances, such as 'a Scotch minister inventing a safety gun'. Considers that this is nevertheless a very pleasant volume. Remarks that it is 'less practical than it might have been', but that 'this defect is more than atoned for in the author's felicitous mode of intermingling with the main subject, some of the most curious facts and phenomena in natural history and philosophy so as to familiarize the angler with many causes and effects which altogether belong to a higher class of reading than that of mere amusement'. (51) Gives two lengthy extracts: a vindication of fly-fishing and an account of flies on the River Wandle (Surrey) and elsewhere.


See also:

ML1/12/323/2


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