Beschreibung:

BOSWELL, JAMES The life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. comprehending an account of his studies and numerous works, in chronological o... London: Henry Baldwin for Charles Dilly, 1791. First edition, one of 1750 copies, first state, with the reading "gve" on line 10 of page 135. Two volumes, finely bound in modern full calf gilt, the spines tooled and lettered in gilt with red and green morocco lettering labels, edges sprinkled red. 10 3 /8 x 8 inches (27 x 20 cm); portrait, xii, [16] pp. contents and errata, 516 pp.; [2], 588 pp., with the "Round Robin" plate and the terminal plate of Johnson's handwriting. Spotting to title, endleaves and occasionally throughout, portrait trimmed close at lower edge with some loss of imprint, an attractive copy. The first and greatest of English biographies, perhaps the earliest with a modern sensibility. It is as telling an account of the inner life of Boswell as it is of Johnson, its ostensible subject. Pottle 79; Grolier English 65; Rothschild 463; Tinker 338. C From the Collection of a Sherman Oaks Lady