Description
The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. by James Boswell, in a decorative binding.
Octavo, xvi, 526pp. Full blue morocco, with gilt borders and trim. Title in gilt on red morocco label, with five raised bands. Marbled edges with matching marbled endpapers. Fold-out frontispiece with facsimile signatures. Bookplate on second free endpaper. Solid text block, some sunning to spine, thin line of sunning to rear cover, otherwise fine. A bright example.
The Life of Samuel Johnson is considered a landmark in the genre of biography. Boswell, the author, became close with the subject when Johnson was 54 years old. Boswell took his own notes to cover the subject’s later years, and relied on Johnson’s personal journals for anything earlier.