Life of Johnson Vol_01 Page 01
BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON Vol. 1
INCLUDING BOSWELL'S JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO THE HEBRIDES
AND JOHNSON'S DIARY OF A JOURNEY INTO NORTH WALES
EDITED BY
GEORGE BIRKBECK HILL, D.C.L.
PEMBROKE COLLEGE, OXFORD
IN SIX VOLUMES
VOLUME I.--LIFE (1709-1765)
M DCCC LXXXVII
THE
LIFE
OF
SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D.
COMPREHENDING
AN ACCOUNT OF HIS STUDIES AND NUMEROUS WORKS, IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER;
A SERIES OF HIS EPISTOLARY CORRESPONDENCE AND CONVERSATIONS WITH MANY EMINENT PERSONS;
AND
VARIOUS ORIGINAL PIECES OF HIS COMPOSITION, NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED:
THE WHOLE EXHIBITING A VIEW OF LITERATURE AND LITERARY MEN IN GREAT-BRITAIN, FOR NEAR HALF A CENTURY, DURING WHICH HE FLOURISHED.
BY JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ.
--Quo fit ut OMNIS Votiva pateat veluti descripta tabella VITA SENIS.--
HORAT.
THE THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND AUGMENTED, IN FOUR VOLUMES.
LONDON: PRINTED BY H. BALDWIN AND SON, FOR CHARLES DILLY, IN THE POULTRY.
* * * * *
M DCC XCIX.
TO
THE REVEREND BENJAMIN JOWETT, M.A.,
MASTER OF BALLIOL COLLEGE
REGIUS PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
HONORARY LL.D. OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
HONORARY D.D. OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LEYDEN
WHO IS NOT ONLY
'AN ACUTE AND KNOWING CRITIC'
BUT ALSO
'JOHNSONIANISSIMUS'
IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT
OF THE
KINDLY INTEREST THAT HE HAS THROUGHOUT TAKEN
IN THE PROGRESS OF THIS WORK
This Edition
OF
BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON
Is Dedicated
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
PAGE
DEDICATION TO SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIRST EDITION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD EDITION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
CHRONOLOGICAL CATALOGUE OF THE PROSE WORKS OF
SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON (SEPT. 18, 1709-OCTOBER 1765) . . . . 1-500
APPENDICES
A. JOHNSON'S DEBATES IN PARLIAMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501
B. JOHNSON'S LETTERS TO HIS MOTHER AND MISS PORTER
IN 1759 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
C. JOHNSON AT CAMBRIDGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
D. JOHNSON'S LETTER TO DR. LELAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518
E. JOHNSON'S 'ENGAGING IN POLITICKS WITH H----N'. . . . . . 518
F. JOHNSON'S FIRST ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE THRALES
AND HIS SERIOUS ILLNESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, &c.
1. SAMUEL JOHNSON, after the Picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds in the
National Gallery
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece to VOL. I.
2. FACSIMILE OF JOHNSON'S HANDWRITING IN HIS 20TH YEAR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VOL. I, p. 60.
3. FACSIMILE OF A LETTER OF JOHNSON relating to Rasselas
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VOL. I, p. 340.
4. SAMUEL JOHNSON, from the Portrait painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds,
1756
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VOL. I, p. 392.
5. SAMUEL JOHNSON, after the Bust by Nollekens
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece to VOL. II.
6. FACSIMILE OF JOHNSON'S HANDWRITING IN HIS 54TH YEAR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VOL. II, to follow Frontispiece.
7. SAMUEL JOHNSON, after the Painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1770
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece to VOL. III.
8. FACSIMILE OF THE ROUND ROBIN ADDRESSED TO DR. JOHNSON
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VOL. III, p. 82.
9. OPIE'S PORTRAIT OF JOHNSON, from the Engraving in the Common
Room of University College
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VOL. III, to face p. 245.
10. FACSIMILE OF DR. JOHNSON'S HANDWRITING A MONTH BEFORE
HIS DEATH
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VOL. IV, to face p. 377.
11. JAMES BOSWELL OF AUCHINLECK, Esq., from the painting by Sir
Joshua Reynolds
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece to VOL. V.
12. FACSIMILE OF BOSWELL'S HANDWRITING, 1792, from a Letter in the
Bodleian Library
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VOL. V, to follow Frontispiece.
13. MAP OF JOHNSON AND BOSWELL'S TOUR THROUGH SCOTLAND AND
THE HEBRIDES
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VOL. V, to face p. 5.
14. CHART OF JOHNSON'S CONTEMPORARIES
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece to VOL. VI.
PREFACE.
Fielding, it is said, drank confusion to the man who invented the fifth act of a play. He who has edited an extensive work, and has concluded his labours by the preparation of a copious index, might well be pardoned, if he omitted to include the inventor of the Preface among the benefactors of mankind. The long and arduous task that years before he had set himself to do is done, and the last thing that he desires is to talk about it. Liberty is what he asks for, liberty to range for a time wherever he pleases in the wide and fair fields of literature.