Books

First edition, first state (p. 135, vol. 1, uncorrected, reading "give"), of the most famous biography in any language. The immense task of compiling the thousands of notes Boswell had recorded on "the great man's talk, habits and opinions" was begun after Johnson's death in 1784. Made up of trifling incidents as well as the significant events in Johnson's life, the work remains a masterpiece of portraiture. "The Life of Johnson was no single book miraculously produced by an inexperienced author. It was the crowning achievement of an artist who for more than twenty-five years had been deliberately disciplining himself for such a task" (Pottle, p. xxi). "Homer is not more decidedly the first of heroic poets, Shakespeare is not more decidedly the first of dramatists, Demosthenes is not more decidedly the first of orators, than Boswell is the first of biographers" (Macaulay). This copy has p. 135, vol. 1, in the uncorrected first state, reading "give". Some copies were corrected in the press to "give", and 1,750 copies in either state were available on publication day, 16 May 1791 (800 were sold in the first two weeks). Two volumes, quarto (approx. 295 x 230 mm). Uncut in original blue paper boards backed with buff paper, original printed spine labels. Housed in a black cloth folding case. Portrait frontispiece engraved by James Heath after Sir Joshua Reynolds, 2 engraved facsimile plates by H. Shepherd. Text printed on pale blue paper. Two prelims (pp. ix-xii) intended for vol. I misbound in vol. II immediately after the title leaf. Significant loss of paper to spines, the labels rubbed but largely intact, some stripping of paper sides exposing boards beneath, still a most desirable copy in unrestored original condition. Courtney 172; Grolier, English 54; Rothschild 463; Pottle 79; Tinker 338.

Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. is a biography of Dr. Samuel Johnson written by James Boswell. It is regarded as an important stage in the development of the modern genre of biography and has been described as the greatest biography written in English.