A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of The Life of Samuel Johnson by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=James+Boswell&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Boswell</a>, with a tipped-in Boswell autograph.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2 volumes.</li><li>James Boswell (Scottish).</li><li>The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.&nbsp;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 flourishes. In Two Volumes. By James Boswell, Esq. … Volume The First. [Second.]</li><li>London: Printed by Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, in The Poultry, MDCCXCI (1791).</li><li>Quarto.</li><li>Volume 1: Engraved frontispiece portrait.</li><li>Volume 2: Engraved plates facing N2v&nbsp;(page 92) and 4F1v&nbsp;(page 588).</li><li>Second issue.</li><li>Contemporary original marbled paper boards with contemporary brown calf spine, original red morocco spine labels with gilt lettering, untrimmed pages, housed in a modern morocco-backed drop-back box.</li></ul> Untrimmed and in a beautiful and extremely well-preserved contemporary binding, this is a superb first edition of one of the most famous literary biographies ever published. It comes from the collection of the prominent American journalist and avid and distinguished bibliophile Barton Currie. This attractive copy includes the wonderful engraved portrait of Johnson made by J. Heath after the famous painting by Joshua Reynolds and two other beautifully engraved plates – a facsimile of Johnson’s handwriting and a “Round Robin” with facsimiles of signatures. Boswell’s The Life of Samuel Johnson is considered by some as one of the greatest biographies ever written in the English language. Boswell’s personal acquaintance with Johnson began in 1763, and the author covered the entirety of Johnson’s life by means of additional research. The biography does indeed take many critical liberties with Johnson’s life, since Boswell makes some changes to Johnson’s quotations and even censors many comments. This is why some contemporary critics have stated that it cannot be considered a proper biography. However, the book is valued as both an important source of information on Johnson and his times, as well as an important work of English literature.

The Life of Samuel Johnson | First Edition

<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">First edition</a> of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=samuel+johnson&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Samuel Johnson</a>'s English dictionary.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2 volumes.</li><li>Samuel Johnson (English).</li><li>A dictionary of the English language: in which the words are deduced from their originals, and illustrated in their different significations by examples from the best writers. To which are prefixed, a history of the language, and an English grammar.</li><li>London:&nbsp;Printed by W. Strahan, for J. and P. Knapton; T. and T. Longman; C. Hitch and L. Hawes; A. Millar; and R. and J. Dodsley,&nbsp;1755.</li><li>Modern full brown calf bound period style, blind-stamped floral borders, raised bands, gilt- and blind-stamped spines, green and lavender goatskin spine labels, red speckled edges.</li></ul> When Johnson begun work on the dictionary, he was at one of the lowest points of his career: a friend called him "a great genius – quite lost to both himself and the world" (Gilbert Walmesly, letter to David Garrick, November 1746). The work was initially suggested to him by the printer Robert Dodsley: "a monumental project that great authors such as Pope and Joseph Addison had contemplated and given up almost before they really got going and lesser men had trembled to think of compiling even as they grumbled and protests about the dire need Britain had for a dictionary" (Martin, 221). Johnson biographer Peter Martin calls the idea "brave, even reckless" because it was such an immense proposal — the French equivalent took over 40 people 55 years to complete — and without precedent in English in scale and depth of research. While it was not the first dictionary of the English language, it was by far the most complex, containing multiple definitions of words, etymological and orthographic notes, and examples of usage from major writers like Shakespeare (which in turn buttressed the Bard's own hallowed reputation). The task revealed some of Johnson's hubris — it took 7 years to complete, rather than the 3 Johnson had planned — but ultimately landed like a meteor, with a far-reaching impact felt even today. Since then, cooler heads have followed the example of the French and pursued crowd-sourced solutions when tackling this kind of scale, from the Oxford English Dictionary to Wikipedia. A landmark in English literature, marking the moment when the language reached modern maturity.

A Dictionary of the English Language | First Edition

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