James Boswell Biography and List of Works

"We cannot tell the precise moment when a friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindness there is at last one which makes the heart run over."
(from Life of Johnson)

Scottish lawyer, essayist, known for his two-volume biography THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D (1791). Boswell met Samuel Johnson in May 1763 and the two became fast friends.

Boswell was born in Edinburgh the son of Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, a judge in the supreme courts of Scotland. Boswell attended the University of Edinburgh (1753-1753), where he studied arts and law. He was keeping a journal and writing poems from the age of 18. At 19 he made his first visit to London, and a few years later, on his second visit, Boswell met Dr. Johnson.

In 1759 Boswell's father sent him to the University of Glasgow, to separate his son from an actress. Boswell ran away to London and embraced Roman Catholicism, planning to become a monk. He returned to Edinburgh and in 1763 began to study law in Holland. After one term, he left for a tour of Europe, meeting the French writers Jean Jacques Rousseau and Voltaire. Moving back to Scotland in 1766, Boswell was admitted to the bar and he practiced law in Edinburgh for 20 years. From the 1760s onwards, he published anonymously pamphlets and verses. In 1768 Boswell published AN ACCOUNT OF CORSICA, based on his journey. The book is a defence of Corsica's abortive struggle for freedom against the republic of Genoa. Rousseau had sparked Boswell's zeal for the cause of Corsican liberty, and he had established a friendship with General Paoli. In 1769 Boswell appeared at the Shakespeare Jubilee in Corsican dress.

In 1769 Boswell married his cousin Margaret Montgomerie; they had seven children. Though his visits to London were restricted to the vacations of the Court of Session, Boswell maintained his contact with Johnson, and was elected to the Literary Club in 1773. The members included some of the most famous men of the time. With Johnson, who described Boswell as 'the best travelling companion in the world', the friends made their celebrated tour of Scotland and Hebrides.

Between 1777 and 1783 Boswell wrote a series of essays on such subjects as drinking, diaries, and hypochondria, for The London Magazine. After Johnson's death in 1784, Boswell published THE JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO THE HEBRIDES (1785). He moved to London, and although he was admitted to the English bar, he concentrated on writing The Life Of Samuel Johnson. It was published in May 1791 and hailed as a triumph.

Boswell's remaining years were mainly unhappy, his pursuit of a political career was unsuccessful, and he suffered from fits of depression and hypochondria. His wife moved back to Scotland, and after the publication of Life the tendency to belittle its author intensified. Boswell died in London on May 19, 1795.

The Life of Samuel Johnson, is generally considered the greatest biography in the English language. Boswell made notes on the spot during Johnson's conversations and he questioned Johnson's friends, transforming details into a lifelike portrait of a fascinating personality. Boswell was aided by Edmund Malone (1741-1812), an Irish literary critic and Shakespearean scholar, who went over the final draft of Johnson's biography.

For further reading: Boswell by C.C. Abbott (1946); James Boswell by P. A.W. Collins (1956); The Impossible Friendship by M. Hyde (1973); Boswell's Creative Gloom by A. Ingham (1982); Boswell's Literary Art: An Annotated Bibliography of Critical Studies, 1900-1985 by Hamilton E. Cochrane (1992); Boswellian Studies: A Bibliography by Anthony E. Brown (1992); Catalogue of the Papers of James Boswell at Yale University: Research Edition, ed. by Marion S. Pottle, et al (1993); Johnson and Boswell in Scotland: A Journey to the Hebrides, ed. by Pat Rogers, et al (1993); Boswell: Citizen of the World, Man of Letters, ed. by Irma S. Lustig (1995); James Boswell: Psychological Interpretations. ed. by Donald J. Newman (1995); All the Sweets of Being: A Life of James Boswell by Roger Hutchinson (1996) - Place to visit in London: Dr. Johnson House, 17 Gough Square, where Johnson lived and wrote his Dictionary. Houses memorabilia and manuscripts.

AN ACCOUNT OF CORSICA, (1768)
ESSAYS IN FAVOUR OF THE CORSICANS, (1769)
THE JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO THE HEBRIDES, (1785)
THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D., (1791)
LETTERS, (1924)
NOTEBOOK, (1776)
BOSWELL'S JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO THE HEBRIDES WITH SAMUEL JOHNSON, (1935)
PRIVATE PAPERS FROM MALAHIDE CASTLE, (1928)
BOSWELL'S LONDON JOURNAL, (1950)
BOSWELL IN HOLLAND, (1952)
BOSWELL ON THE GRAND TOUR: GERMANY AND SWITZERLAND, (1953)
BOSWELL ON GRAND TOUR: ITALY, CORSICA, AND FRANCE, (1955)
BOSWELL IN SEARCH OF A WIFE, (1956)
BOSWELL FOR THE DEFENCE, (1959)
BOSWELL: THE OMINOUS YEARS, (1963)
THE CORRESPONDENCE OF JAMES BOSWELLAND JOHN JOHNSTON OF GRANGE, (1966)
THE RESEARCH EDITION OF THE PRIVATE PAPERS, (1966)
THE CORRESPONDENCE AND OTHER PAPERS OF JAMES BOSWELL RELATING TO THE 'LIFE OF JOHNSON', (1969)
THE CORRESPONDENCE OF JAMES BOSWELL AND WILLIAM JOHNSON TEMPLE, (1756)
THE GENERAL CORRESPINDENCE OF JAMES BOSWELL:, (1766)
THE CORRESPONDENCE OF JAMES BOSWELL: WITH JAMES BRUCE AND ANDREW GIBB, (1999)