Boswell's Life of Johnson

James Boswell

Summary

The edition of 1886, edited by George Brikbek Hill. This file also includes Boswell's Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides and Johnson's Diary of a Journey into North Wales. According to Wikipedia: "James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (1740 - 1795) was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland; he is best known for his biography of Samuel Johnson. He was the eldest son of a judge, Alexander Boswell, 8th Laird of Auchinleck and his wife Euphemia Erskine, Lady Auchinleck; he inherited his father’s estate Auchinleck in Ayrshire. Boswell's mother was a strict Calvinist, and he felt that his father was cold to him. His name has passed into the English language as a term (Boswell, Boswellian, Boswellism) for a constant companion and observer. Boswell is also known for the detailed and frank journals that he wrote for long periods of his life, which remained undiscovered until the 1920s. These included voluminous notes on the grand tour of Europe that he took as a young nobleman and, subsequently, of his tour of Scotland with Johnson. His journals also record meetings and conversations with eminent individuals belonging to The Club, including Lord Monboddo, David Garrick, Edmund Burke, Joshua Reynolds and Oliver Goldsmith. His written works focus chiefly on others, but he was admitted as a good companion and accomplished conversationalist in his own right."

Available since: 03/01/2018.

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