"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.
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