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    By James Boswell
    London   Charles Dilly
    8.5" by 5.5" xviii, i-xxxi, i-xxxviii, 603; 634pp
    The first two volumes of James Boswell's well-known 18th century biography of author Samuel Johnson, the second edition of this work.
    By James Boswell

    1793 The Life of Samuel Johnson

    London   Charles Dilly
    8.5" by 5.5" xviii, i-xxxi, i-xxxviii, 603; 634pp
    The first two volumes of James Boswell's well-known 18th century biography of author Samuel Johnson, the second edition of this work.
    £250.00
    : 2kgs / : 824J2
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    Description

    Early Edition, Folding Plates, Illustrated, Leather Binding, Rebound

    The second edition of this well-known biography, revised and augmented.

    Including Volumes I and II, lacking Volume III. 

    Written by eighteenth-century Scottish biographer James Boswell. 

    Boswell's biography of Samuel Johnson is often claimed to be the greatest biography written in English, and the text played an important role in the development of the modern genre of biography. Whilst Boswell's personal acquaintance with his subject began rather later in 1763 when Johnson was fifty four years old, Boswell covered the entirety of Johnson's life by means of additional research. 

    Including an engraved frontispiece portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds to Volume I and a folding 'Round Robin' plate with facsimile signatures to Volume II. Collated and complete. 

    Samuel Johnson was an English author, well-known in the literary world for his many lasting contributions to various areas of humanist art, including poetry, essay-writing, biography, and more. He is described by the 'Oxford Dictionary of National Biographies' as the most distinguished man of letters in English history. 

    Containing a contemporary ink inscription to the front free-endpaper of each volume: 'Edmund Calamy Esq to Ann Pope, Feb the 3rd, 1798'. 

    ESTC Citation No. T64482

    Condition

    Bound in contemporary quarter calf binding with marbled boards. Externally, some shelf wear to the boards and rubbing to the joints and spines. Containing a contemporary ink inscription to the front free-endpaper of each volume. Internally, hinges are lightly strained, though remaining binding is firm. Light spotting to the first and last few pages, and the odd spot to the pages, which are otherwise bright and clean, especially considering the age of the work.

    Good

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