All posts tagged James Boswell

James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (29 October 1740 – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of the English writer Samuel Johnson, Life of Samuel Johnson, which is commonly said to be the greatest biography written in the English language. A great mass of Boswell’s diaries, letters, and private papers were recovered from the 1920s to the 1950s, and their publication by Yale University significantly elevated his standing among modern scholars.

—Wikipedia

Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson

Published on May 10, 2017

The Life of Samuel Johnson is a biography written by James Boswell and published in 1791. It is a comprehensive and influential account of the life of one of the most prominent figures in 18th-century English literature, Samuel Johnson. One of the notable features of Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson is the inclusion of numerous conversations and anecdotes. Johnson’s wit, wisdom, and idiosyncrasies are all here. These dialogues provide insights into Johnson’s views on a wide range of topics, including...