Books

An attractive set of Boswell's great biography, first published in 1791. "This version contains both the original texts, augmented by the additional writings of the biographer and his subject, and the very valuable new and related material which Croker introduced [in his 1831 edition]" (Pottle). "Boswell's Life of Johnson remains the most famous biography in any language, one of Western literature's most germinal achievements: unprecedented in its time in its depth of research and its extensive use of private correspondence and recorded conversation, it sought to dramatize its subject in his authorial greatness and formidable social presence, and at the same time treat him with a profound sympathy and inhabit his inner life. Boswell both elevated the life of the writer to epic stature, and attended to the minute details of life as lived to provide a steady disclosure of character through their long gradual accretion" (ODNB). Pottle 92. Ten vols, small octavo (164 x 102 mm). Early 20th-century orange morocco by Bayntun, spines lettered in gilt, covers panelled in gilt, gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, gilt edges. Engraved frontispieces and vignettes title pages with tissue-guards, 24 other engraved plates including views, portraits, maps and facsimiles. Spines lightly sunned with a few slight patches of discoloration, occasional offsetting from plates otherwise contents clean. An excellent set.

James Boswell's 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' is regarded as one of the greatest biographies written in the English language. It provides an in-depth and vivid recounting of the life of Samuel Johnson, a writer and critic who was a towering figure in 18th-century British literature.