New Releases by James Boswell

This XpressRead Cram Edition of Life of Johnson, Volume 4 / 1780-1784 pairs the complete original text with carefully prepared study materials, designed for deeper engagement with this classic. Delve into the 18th century with James Boswell's monumental biography, "Life Of Johnson, Volume 4 of 6." This meticulously prepared print edition offers a captivating glimpse into the life and times of Samuel Johnson, one of the greatest literary figures in English literature. Boswell's detailed account provides invaluable insights into Johnson's character, his sharp wit, and his profound impact on the world of criticism. A cornerstone of biographical literature, this volume offers a window into the historical context of Johnson's era and the intellectual landscape he helped to shape. Explore the personal and professional life of this influential critic through the eyes of his devoted friend and biographer. Discover why Boswell's "Life of Johnson" remains a celebrated work of biography and a vital resource for understanding 18th-century England.

Boswell was the most charming companion in the world, and London becomes his dining room and his playground, his club and his confessional. No celebrant of the London world can ignore his book.'Peter Ackroyd, from the ForewordIn 1762 James Boswell, then twenty-two years old, left Edinburgh for London. The famous Journal he kept during the next nine months is an intimate account of his encounters with the high-life and the low-life in London. Frank and confessional as a personal portrait of the young Boswell, the Journal is also revealing as a vivid portrayal of life in eighteenth-century London. This new edition includes a Foreword by Peter Ackroyd, which discusses Boswell's life and achievement.Key Features:* Features a new Foreword by Peter Ackroyd, author of London: The Biography* This edition of Boswell's classic text has long been recognised as THE authoritative version* Edited by the renowned Boswell expert, the late Frederick A. Pottle* Includes a first-class introduction and informative notes throughout

I sommeren 1763 rejste den skotske adelsmand James Boswell til Holland, hvor han opholdt sig i knap et år. Året forinden havde Boswell været i London, hvor han var begyndt at skrive dagbog, og denne vane tog han med sig til Holland. "Boswell i Holland" ligger således i direkte forlængelse af hans "London dagbog", og den er interessant, både fordi den giver et indblik i livet i 1700-tallet, og fordi det er et stykke arbejde af meget høj litterær kvalitet. James Boswell (1740-1795) var en skotsk adelsmand, der for eftertiden er blevet kendt for sine meget omfattende dagbogsskriverier og for sin biografi om litteraten Samuel Johnson. Boswell begyndte at skrive dagbog, da han som ung mand opholdt sig i London i 1762-63, og han fortsatte resten af livet.

A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1775) is a travel narrative by Samuel Johnson about an eighty-three-day journey through Scotland, in particular the islands of the Hebrides, in the late summer and autumn of 1773. The sixty-three-year-old Johnson was accompanied by his thirty-two-year-old friend of many years James Boswell, who was also keeping a record of the trip, published in 1785 as A Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides. The two narratives are often published as a single volume, which is beneficial for comparing two perspectives of the same events, although they are very different in approach---Johnson focused on Scotland, and Boswell focused on Johnson. (Boswell went on to write a famous biography of Johnson.) Highland Scotland was still a relatively wild place in 1773. Marauding privateers and slave-ships worked the coasts (seven slavers were reported in 1774 alone). The destruction of Scottish forests was in full swing. The Scottish clan system had been dismantled by Act of Parliament, the population had been disarmed and wearing of the tartan was prohibited. Scotch whisky was distilled illegally and profusely (Johnson noted the custom of the skalk, or drinking whisky before breakfast). The rule of law was by no means properly established, and the power of the clan chieftains was curtailed but was often the only real authority. Johnson and Boswell toured the Highlands and islands by carriage, on horseback and by boat, planning the stages of their journey to stay at the houses of the local gentry. They were astounded when they visited their colleague Lord Monboddo at Monboddo House and saw him in his primitive attire as a farmer, a quite different picture from his image as an urbane Edinburgh Court of Session jurist, philosopher and proto-evolutionary thinker. This part of Scotland in 1773 was a romantic place. It was relatively empty of people and nearly unspoiled by commerce, roads, and other trappings of modern life - Johnson noted that in some Highland islands money had not yet become custom. Indeed, with no money or roads parts of Scotland were more akin to the 8th century than 18th. Once Johnson reached the West Highlands, there were few roads, none at all on the Isle of Skye, and so they traveled by horseback, usually along the ridge of a hill with a local guide who knew the terrain and the best route for the season. "Journies made in this manner are rather tedious and long. A very few miles requires several hours," Johnson wrote. He deplored the depopulation of the Highlands: "Some method to stop this epidemic desire of wandering, which spreads its contagion from valley to valley, ought to be sought with great diligence."

Samuel Johnson's Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and James Boswell's Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides are widely regarded as among the best pieces of travel writing ever produced. Johnson and Boswell spent the autumn of 1773 touring Scotland as far west as the islands of Skye, Raasay, Coll, Mull, Ulva, Inchkenneth and Iona. Highly readable, often profound, and at times very funny, their accounts of the 'jaunt' are above all a valuable record of a society undergoing rapid change. In this pioneering new edition, Ronald Black brings together the two men's starkly contrasting accounts of each of the thirteen stages of the journey. He also restores to Boswell's text 20,000 words from his journal which were denied entry to his book because they were intimate, defamatory, or about the islands rather than Johnson. The endnotes incorporate Boswell's footnotes, translations of Latin passages, a clear summary of pre-existing information on the two texts, and a fresh focus on what the two men actually found on their trip. To the Hebrides also includes contemporary prints by Thomas Rowlandson, seventeen new maps and a comprehensive index.

The journals of a legendary Scottish writer Edinburgh-born James Boswell, at twenty-two, kept a daily diary of his eventful second stay in London from 1762 to 1763. This journal, not discovered for more than 150 years, is a deft, frank and artful record of adventures ranging from his vividly recounted love affair with a Covent Garden actress to his first amusingly bruising meeting with Samuel Johnson, to whom Boswell would later become both friend and biographer. The London Journal 1762-63 is a witty, incisive and compellingly candid testament to Boswell's prolific talents. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

In the archive room in the basement of the library.