Charles Cotton
A cavalier poet who found his muse not just in verse, but in the quiet art of fishing and the boisterous rules of card games.
1630–1687 (age 57)·English poet and writer·Birthday: April 28
Biography
Charles Cotton lived with a Restoration-era zest, a friend to the rakish playwrights and a country gentleman with a deep love for the Derbyshire landscape. While he wrote witty, often risqué poetry, his enduring legacy is curiously practical. His most famous work came as an appendix to Izaak Walton's 'The Compleat Angler,' a seminal book on fishing. Cotton's addition, a detailed guide on fly-fishing for trout, is considered a classic of the genre, written with a naturalist's eye and a poet's touch. He is also widely credited with authoring 'The Compleat Gamester,' one of the first English-language guides to the rules and strategies of popular card games, dice, and billiards—a snapshot of 17th-century leisure. Furthermore, his translation of Montaigne's 'Essays' remained the standard English version for centuries. Cotton was a man of contrasting passions: the refined contemplative by the river and the shrewd observer of London's gaming tables.
#1 When Charles Was Born
The biggest hits of 1630
Charles's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1630Born
1635Started school
1643Became a teenager
1646Could drive
1648Could vote
1651Turned 21
1660Turned 30
1670Turned 40
1680Turned 50
1687Died at 57
Key Achievements
- Authored the influential fly-fishing supplement to Izaak Walton's 'The Compleat Angler,' a cornerstone of angling literature.
- Wrote 'The Compleat Gamester,' a definitive early rulebook for card games, dice, billiards, and other 17th-century pastimes.
- Produced a translation of Michel de Montaigne's 'Essays' that was the primary English version for nearly 300 years.
- Built a fishing lodge on his Derbyshire estate that inspired his angling writings and still stands today.
Did You Know?
The fishing lodge he built featured the initials of himself and Izaak Walton intertwined over the door.
He was a close friend of the libertine poet John Wilmot, the Earl of Rochester.
Cotton's father was a friend of Ben Jonson, linking him to the previous generation of literary giants.
He fought a duel in London over a gambling dispute, a real-life incident fitting for the author of 'The Compleat Gamester.'
“Angling is an art worthy the knowledge and practice of a wise man.”
