Books

London: John Murray, 1860. Finely bound example of the most celebrated biography in the English language, decorated with a concealed split fore-edge painting. Octavo, bound in full period morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, elaborate gilt ruling and fleuron cornerpieces to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, all edges gilt, decorated with a concealed split fore-edge painting revealing two maritime landscapes, illustrated, ribbon bound in. In very good condition. Bookplate. A unique example. “Boswell excelled in insight into human nature and in ability to dramatize a situation… It was a crucial part of Boswell’s magic to give significance and vitality to the apparently trivial; it is this trait, together with his notable accuracy and unparalleled completeness of portraiture, that made him… ‘the Shakespeare of biographers” (Baugh et al., 1065-66). "One of Western literature's most…

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.