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The page exhibits some 18 deletions and word substitutions by the author. The text appears on page 37 in volume II of the first edition (London, 1791), a passage relating a visit made by Johnson and Boswell to Lichfield on Sunday 24 March 1776. Johnson and Boswell dine with David Garrick's brother, Peter, who is in particularly good humour. Peter "verified Johnson's saying, that if he had cultivated gaiety as much as his brother David, he might have equally excelled in it. He was today quite a London narrator, telling us a variety of anecdotes with that earnestness and attempt at mimicry which we usually find in the wits of the metropolis." Afterwards, they visit the cathedral, where Boswell is pleased to witness Johnson "worshipping in 'the solemn temple' of his native city". Boswell returns to tea with Peter Garrick, then meets up with Johnson at "the Reverend Mr. Seward's, Canon Residentiary, who inhabited the Bishop's palace, in which Mr. Walmsley lived, and which had been the scene of many happy hours in Johnson's early life." Boswell finds him "a genteel well-bred dignified clergyman". Of the 1,046 leaves which made up the manuscript of the most celebrated English-language biography, most are in Yale and Harvard University libraries, a few are owned by the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia, and only two leaves, including this, remain in private hands. The last example was sold at auction at Christie's New York, 17 May 1989, when it brought $44,000. One page, quarto, fore- and lower margins with deckle edges preserved. Marked "1776" at the top left-hand corner; foliated "538" by Boswell in the opposite corner. Small areas of insect damage to both margins about midway down the leaf, not affecting text, sometime silked on verso, the silking now removed, otherwise very good condition.

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.