Description
When it came time to tell the life story of Samuel Johnson, a central figure of British thought and literature, only the most brilliant of biographers would do. Happily, in 1791, James Boswell rose to the task, and the resulting Life of Johnson is a masterpiece. Originally written in six volumes, the work was abridged in modern times, maintaining all of its original dazzle. Here, Boswell traces Johnson's life from humble beginnings and his career as a magazine writer, through the creation of his greatest work, the Dictionary of the English Language—a catalog of astounding depth and range that revolutionized knowledge of the English language for all time. Johnson hobnobbed with some of the greatest minds of his day, from novelists to philosophers. In Boswell's expert hands, the writer and his circle are brought vividly back to life, their meetings and conversations detailed for all time. Capturing the essence of a great writer and thinker, full of Johnson's oft-quoted words of wisdom ("when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life"), this biography is celebrated as one of the greatest ever written.
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THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D.
Had Dr. Johnson written his own life, in conformity with the opinion which he has given, that every man's life may be best written by himself; had he employed in the preservation of his own history, that clearness of narration and elegance of language in which he ...
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