1887 Boswell's Life of Johnson

Description

First Edition, Folding Plates, Leather Binding, Signed Binding

In beautiful signed half calf bindings from Roger de Coverly & Sons, this is an excellent and complete six volume set of James Boswell's biography of English writer Dr. Samuel Johnson.

The first edition thus, being the first edition edited by George Birkbeck Hill, and including both Boswell's 'Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides', and Johnson's 'Diary of a Journey into North Wales'.

Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait to four volumes, two further engraved plates, and six folding plates. Collated, complete.

A landmark work in the development of the modern biography in English, many have claimed it as the greatest biography ever written. Nevertheless, this biography takes many critical liberties with Johnson's life, with Boswell making various changes to Johnson's quotations and even censoring his comments.

Although his true passion was music, the bookbinder Roger de Coverly trained with Zaehnsdorf and assisted at a stationer’s before opening his own bindery.