Books

With An Essay on his Life and Genius by Arthur Murphy, Esq. 8vo, 213 x 134mm, full diced calf, panelled spines ruled & ornamented in gilt, all edges sprinkled. Vol.1: pp.[ii] vi [iii]-viii, 412 + final blank leaf, portrait frontispiece engraved by W T Fry from an original picture by Joshua Reynolds; Vol.2: pp.[vi] 472 + final blank leaf; Vol.3: [vi] 464 + final blank leaf; Vol.4: [ii] vi, 446 + 2 final blank leaves; Vol.5: [ii] vi, 444 + final blank leaf; Vol.6: [ii] vi, 398 + 2 final blank leaves; Vol.7: [ii] vi, 410 + final blank leaf; Vol.8: [ii] vi, 412 + final blank leaf; Vol.9: [vi] 460 + final blank leaf; Vol.10: [vi] 408 + final blank leaf; Vol.11: [vi] 392 + final blank leaf; Vol.12: [ii] iv, 450 [94] + final blank leaf. Final two leaves of text of Vol.1 present, but not bound in, insect damage to section of outer joint of Vol.2, slight worming at head of early leaves & at tail of end leaves of Vol.9. Each volume bears the armorial bookplate of Ralph Oakden, whose ownership signature is at the head of the title-page of Vol.1.

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.