The Life of Samuel Johnson

Dedication. To Sir Joshua Reynolds.

My Dear Sir, – Every liberal motive that can actuate an Authour in the dedication of his labours, concurs in directing me to you, as the person to whom the following Work should be inscribed.

If there be a pleasure in celebrating the distinguished merit of a contemporary, mixed with a certain degree of vanity not altogether inexcusable, in appearing fully sensible of it, where can I find one, in complimenting whom I can with more general approbation gratify those feelings? Your excellence not only in the Art over which you have long presided with unrivalled fame, but also in Philosophy and elegant Literature, is well known to the present, and will continue to be the admiration of future ages. Your equal and placid temper, your variety of conversation, your true politeness, by which you are so amiable in private society, and that enlarged hospitality which has long made your house a common centre of union for the great, the accomplished, the learned, and the ingenious; all these qualities I can, in perfect confidence of not being accused of flattery, ascribe to you.

If a man may indulge an honest pride, in having it known to the world, that he has been thought worthy of particular attention by a person of the first eminence in the age in which he lived, whose company has been universally courted, I am justified in availing myself of the usual privilege of a Dedication, when I mention that there has been a long and uninterrupted friendship between us.

If gratitude should be acknowledged for favours received, I have this opportunity, my dear Sir, most sincerely to thank you for the many happy hours which I owe to your kindness, – for the cordiality with which you have at all times been pleased to welcome me, – for the number of valuable acquaintances to whom you have introduced me, – for the noctes cœnæque Deûm,¹ which I have enjoyed under your roof.

If a work should be inscribed to one who is master of the subject of it, and whose approbation, therefore, must ensure it credit and success, the Life of Dr. Johnson is, with the greatest propriety, dedicated to Sir Joshua Reynolds, who was the intimate and beloved friend of that great man; the friend, whom he declared to be ‘the most invulnerable man he knew; whom, if he should quarrel with him, he should find the most difficulty how to abuse.’ You, my dear Sir, studied him, and knew him well: you venerated and admired him. Yet, luminous as he was upon the whole, you perceived all the shades which mingled in the grand composition; all the little peculiarities and slight blemishes which marked the literary Colossus. Your very warm commendation of the specimen which I gave in my Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, of my being able to preserve his conversation in an authentick and lively manner, which opinion the Publick has confirmed, was the best encouragement for me to persevere in my purpose of producing the whole of my stores.

In one respect, this Work will, in some passages, be different from the former. In my Tour, I was almost unboundedly open in my communications, and from my eagerness to display the wonderful fertility and readiness of Johnson’s wit, freely shewed to the world its dexterity, even when I was myself the object of it. I trusted that I should be liberally understood, as knowing very well what I was about, and by no means as simply unconscious of the pointed effects of the satire. I own, indeed, that I was arrogant enough to suppose that the tenour of the rest of the book would sufficiently guard me against such a strange imputation. But it seems I judged too well of the world; for, though I could scarcely believe it, I have been undoubtedly informed, that many persons, especially in distant quarters, not penetrating enough into Johnson’s character, so as to understand his mode of treating his friends, have arraigned my judgement, instead of seeing that I was sensible of all that they could observe.

It is related of the great Dr. Clarke, that when in one of his leisure hours he was unbending himself with a few friends in the most playful and frolicksome manner, he observed Beau Nash approaching; upon which he suddenly stopped: – ‘My boys, (said he,) let us be grave: here comes a fool.’ The world, my friend, I have found to be a great fool, as to that particular, on which it has become necessary to speak very plainly. I have, therefore, in this Work been more reserved; and though I tell nothing but the truth, I have still kept in my mind that the whole truth is not always to be exposed. This, however, I have managed so as to occasion no diminution of the pleasure which my book should afford; though malignity may sometimes be disappointed of its gratifications.

I am, my dear Sir,

Your much obliged friend,

And faithful humble servant,

JAMES BOSWELL.

London,
April 20, 1791.

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIRST EDITION.

I at last deliver to the world a Work which I have long promised, and of which, I am afraid, too high expectations have been raised. The delay of its publication must be imputed, in a considerable degree, to the extraordinary zeal which has been shewn by distinguished persons in all quarters to supply me with additional information concerning its illustrious subject; resembling in this the grateful tribes of ancient nations, of which every individual was eager to throw a stone upon the grave of a departed Hero, and thus to share in the pious office of erecting an honourable monument to his memory.

The labour and anxious attention with which I have collected and arranged the materials of which these volumes are composed, will hardly be conceived by those who read them with careless facility. The stretch of mind and prompt assiduity by which so many conversations were preserved, I myself, at some distance of time, contemplate with wonder; and I must be allowed to suggest, that the nature of the work, in other respects, as it consists of innumerable detached particulars, all which, even the most minute, I have spared no pains to ascertain with a scrupulous authenticity, has occasioned a degree of trouble far beyond that of any other species of composition. Were I to detail the books which I have consulted, and the inquiries which I have found it necessary to make by various channels, I should probably be thought ridiculously ostentatious. Let me only observe, as a specimen of my trouble, that I have sometimes been obliged to run half over London, in order to fix a date correctly; which, when I had accomplished, I well knew would obtain me no praise, though a failure would have been to my discredit. And after all, perhaps, hard as it may be, I shall not be surprized if omissions or mistakes be pointed out with invidious severity. I have also been extremely careful as to the exactness of my quotations; holding that there is a respect due to the publick which should oblige every Authour to attend to this, and never to presume to introduce them with, – ‘I think I have read;’ – or, – ‘If I remember right;’ – when the originals may be examined.

I beg leave to express my warmest thanks to those who have been pleased to favour me with communications and advice in the conduct of my Work. But I cannot sufficiently acknowledge my obligations to my friend Mr. Malone, who was so good as to allow me to read to him almost the whole of my manuscript, and make such remarks as were greatly for the advantage of the Work; though it is but fair to him to mention, that upon many occasions I differed from him, and followed my own judgement. I regret exceedingly that I was deprived of the benefit of his revision, when not more than one half of the book had passed through the press; but after having completed his very laborious and admirable edition of Shakspeare, for which he generously would accept of no other reward but that fame which he has so deservedly obtained, he fulfilled his promise of a long-wished-for visit to his relations in Ireland; from whence his safe return finibus Atticis is desired by his friends here, with all the classical ardour of Sic te Diva potens Cypri;² for there is no man in whom more elegant and worthy qualities are united; and whose society, therefore, is more valued by those who know him.

It is painful to me to think, that while I was carrying on this Work, several of those to whom it would have been most interesting have died. Such melancholy disappointments we know to be incident to humanity; but we do not feel them the less. Let me particularly lament the Reverend Thomas Warton, and the Reverend Dr. Adams. Mr. Warton, amidst his variety of genius and learning, was an excellent Biographer. His contributions to my Collection are highly estimable; and as he had a true relish of my Tour to the Hebrides, I trust I should now have been gratified with a larger share of his kind approbation. Dr. Adams, eminent as the Head of a College, as a writer, and as a most amiable man, had known Johnson from his early years, and was his friend through life. What reason I had to hope for the countenance of that venerable Gentleman to this Work, will appear from what he wrote to me upon a former occasion from Oxford, November 17, 1785: – ‘Dear Sir, I hazard this letter, not knowing where it will find you, to thank you for your very agreeable Tour, which I found here on my return from the country, and in which you have depicted our friend so perfectly to my fancy, in every attitude, every scene and situation, that I have thought myself in the company, and of the party almost throughout. It has given very general satisfaction; and those who have found most fault with a passage here and there, have agreed that they could not help going through, and being entertained with the whole. I wish, indeed, some few gross expressions had been softened, and a few of our hero’s foibles had been a little more shaded; but it is useful to see the weaknesses incident to great minds; and you have given us Dr. Johnson’s authority that in history all ought to be told.’

Such a sanction to my faculty of giving a just representation of Dr. Johnson I could not conceal. Nor will I suppress my satisfaction in the consciousness, that by recording so considerable a portion of the wisdom and wit of ‘the brightest ornament of the eighteenth century,’^a I have largely provided for the instruction and entertainment of mankind. – London, April 20, 1791.

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION.

That I was anxious for the success of a Work which had employed much of my time and labour, I do not wish to conceal: but whatever doubts I at any time entertained, have been entirely removed by the very favourable reception with which it has been honoured. That reception has excited my best exertions to render my Book more perfect; and in this endeavour I have had the assistance not only of some of my particular friends, but of many other learned and ingenious men, by which I have been enabled to rectify some mistakes, and to enrich the Work with many valuable additions. These I have ordered to be printed separately in quarto, for the accommodation of the purchasers of the first edition. May I be permitted to say that the typography of both editions does honour to the press of Mr. Henry Baldwin, now Master of the Worshipful Company of Stationers, whom I have long known as a worthy man and an obliging friend.

In the strangely mixed scenes of human existence, our feelings are often at once pleasing and painful. Of this truth, the progress of the present Work furnishes a striking instance. It was highly gratifying to me that my friend, Sir Joshua Reynolds, to whom it is inscribed, lived to peruse it, and to give the strongest testimony to its fidelity; but before a second edition, which he contributed to improve, could be finished, the world has been deprived of that most valuable man; a loss of which the regret will be deep, and lasting, and extensive, proportionate to the felicity which he diffused through a wide circle of admirers and friends.

In reflecting that the illustrious subject of this Work, by being more extensively and intimately known, however elevated before, has risen in the veneration and love of mankind, I feel a satisfaction beyond what fame can afford. We cannot, indeed, too much or too often admire his wonderful powers of mind, when we consider that the principal store of wit and wisdom which this Work contains, was not a particular selection from his general conversation, but was merely his occasional talk at such times as I had the good fortune to be in his company; and, without doubt, if his discourse at other periods had been collected with the same attention, the whole tenor of what he uttered would have been found equally excellent.

His strong, clear, and animated enforcement of religion, morality, loyalty, and subordination, while it delights and improves the wise and the good, will, I trust, prove an effectual antidote to that detestable sophistry which has been lately imported from France, under the false name of Philosophy, and with a malignant industry has been employed against the peace, good order, and happiness of society, in our free and prosperous country; but thanks be to GOD, without producing the pernicious effects which were hoped for by its propagators.

It seems to me, in my moments of self-complacency, that this extensive biographical work, however inferior in its nature, may in one respect be assimilated to the ODYSSEY. Amidst a thousand entertaining and instructive episodes the HERO is never long out of sight; for they are all in some degree connected with him; and HE, in the whole course of the History, is exhibited by the Author for the best advantage of his readers.

‘—— Quid virtus et quid sapientia possit,

Utile proposuit nobis exemplar Ulyssen.’³

Should there be any cold-blooded and morose mortals who really dislike this Book, I will give them a story to apply. When the great Duke of Marlborough, accompanied by Lord Cadogan, was one day reconnoitering the army in Flanders, a heavy rain came on, and they both called for their cloaks. Lord Cadogan’s servant, a good humoured alert lad, brought his Lordship’s in a minute. The Duke’s servant, a lazy sulky dog, was so sluggish, that his Grace being wet to the skin, reproved him, and had for answer with a grunt, ‘I came as fast as I could,’ upon which the Duke calmly said, ‘Cadogan, I would not for a thousand pounds have that fellow’s temper.’

There are some men, I believe, who have, or think they have, a very small share of vanity. Such may speak of their literary fame in a decorous style of diffidence. But I confess, that I am so formed by nature and by habit, that to restrain the effusion of delight, on having obtained such fame, to me would be truly painful. Why then should I suppress it? Why ‘out of the abundance of the heart’⁴ should I not speak? Let me then mention with a warm, but no insolent exultation, that I have been regaled with spontaneous praise of my work by many and various persons eminent for their rank, learning, talents and accomplishments; much of which praise I have under their hands to be reposited in my archives at Auchinleck. An honourable and reverend friend⁵ speaking of the favourable reception of my volumes, even in the circles of fashion and elegance, said to me, ‘you have made them all talk Johnson,’ – Yes, I may add, I have Johnsonised the land; and I trust they will not only talk, but think, Johnson.

To enumerate those to whom I have been thus indebted, would be tediously ostentatious. I cannot however but name one whose praise is truly valuable, not only on account of his knowledge and abilities, but on account of the magnificent, yet dangerous embassy, in which he is now employed, which makes every thing that relates to him peculiarly interesting. Lord MACARTNEY favoured me with his own copy of my book, with a number of notes, of which I have availed myself. On the first leaf I found in his Lordship’s hand-writing, an inscription of such high commendation, that even I, vain as I am, cannot prevail on myself to publish it. [July 1, 1793.]

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD EDITION.

Several valuable letters, and other curious matter, having been communicated to the Author too late to be arranged in that chronological order which he had endeavoured uniformly to observe in his work, he was obliged to introduce them in his Second Edition, by way of ADDENDA, as commodiously as he could. In the present edition these have been distributed in their proper places. In revising his volumes for a new edition, he had pointed out where some of these materials should be inserted; but unfortunately in the midst of his labours, he was seized with a fever, of which, to the great regret of all his friends, he died on the 19th of May, 1795. All the Notes that he had written in the margin of the copy which he had in part revised, are here faithfully preserved; and a few new Notes have been added, principally by some of those friends to whom the Author in the former editions acknowledged his obligations. Those subscribed with the letter B, were communicated by Dr. Burney: those to which the letters J B are annexed, by the Rev. J. Blakeway, of Shrewsbury, to whom Mr. Boswell acknowledged himself indebted for some judicious remarks on the first edition of his work: and the letters J B – O. are annexed to some remarks furnished by the Author’s second son, a Student of Brazen-Nose College in Oxford. Some valuable observations were communicated by James Bindley, Esq. First Commissioner in the Stamp-Office, which have been acknowledged in their proper places. For all those without any signature, Mr. Malone is answerable. – Every new remark, not written by the Author, for the sake of distinction has been enclosed within crotchets:⁶ in one instance, however, the printer by mistake has affixed this mark to a note relative to the Rev. Thomas Fysche Palmer, which was written by Mr. Boswell, and therefore ought not to have been thus distinguished.

I have only to add, that the proof-sheets of the present edition not having passed through my hands, I am not answerable for any typographical errours that may be found in it. Having, however, been printed at the very accurate press of Mr. Baldwin, I make no doubt it will be found not less perfect than the former edition; the greatest care having been taken, by correctness and elegance to do justice to one of the most instructive and entertaining works in the English language. – April 8, 1799

EDMOND MALONE.

A CHRONOLOGICAL CATALOGUE OF THE PROSE WORKS^a OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D.

[N.B. To those which he himself acknowledged is added acknowl. To those which may be fully believed to be his from internal evidence, is added intern. evid.]

1735. ABRIDGEMENT and translation of Lobo’s Voyage to Abyssinia. acknowl.

1738. Part of a translation of Father Paul Sarpi’s History of the Council of Trent. acknowl.

[N.B. As this work after some sheets were printed, suddenly stopped, I know not whether any part of it is now to be found.]

For the Gentleman’s Magazine.

Preface. intern. evid.

Life of Father Paul. acknowl.

1739. A complete vindication of the Licenser of the Stage from the malicious and scandalous aspersions of Mr. Brooke, authour of Gustavus Vasa. acknowl.

Marmor Norfolciense: or, an Essay on an ancient prophetical inscription in monkish rhyme, lately discovered near Lynne in Norfolk; by PROBUS BRITANNICUS. acknowl.

For the Gentleman’s Magazine.

Life of Boerhaave. acknowl.

Address to the Reader. intern. evid.

Appeal to the Publick in behalf of the Editor. intern. evid.

Considerations on the case of Dr. Trapp’s Sermons; a plausible attempt to prove that an author’s work may be abridged without injuring his property. acknowl.

1740. For the Gentleman’s Magazine.

Preface. intern. evid.

Life of Admiral Drake. acknowl.

Life of Admiral Blake. acknowl.

Life of Philip Barretier. acknowl.

Essay on Epitaphs. acknowl.

1741. For the Gentleman’s Magazine.

Preface. intern. evid.

A free translation of the Jests of Hierocles, with an introduction. intern. evid.

Debate on the Humble Petition and Advice of the Rump Parliament to Cromwell in 1657, to assume the Title of King; abridged, methodized and digested. intern. evid.

Translation of Abbé Guyon’s Dissertation on the Amazons. intern. evid.

Translation of Fontenelle’s Panegyrick on Dr. Morin. intern. evid.

1742. For the Gentleman’s Magazine.

Preface. intern. evid.

Essay on the Account of the Conduct of the Duchess of Marlborough. acknowl.

An Account of the Life of Peter Burman. acknowl.

The Life of Sydenham, afterwards prefixed to Dr. Swan’s Edition of his Works. acknowl.

Proposals for printing Bibliotheca Harleiana, or a Catalogue of the Library of the Earl of Oxford, afterwards prefixed to the first Volume of that Catalogue, in which the Latin Accounts of the Books were written by him. acknowl.

Abridgement intitled, Foreign History, intern. evid.

Essay on the Description of China, from the French of Du Halde. intern. evid.

1743. Dedication to Dr. Mead of Dr. James’s Medicinal Dictionary. intern. evid.

For the Gentleman’s Magazine.

Preface. intern. evid.

Parliamentary Debates under the Name of Debates in the Senate of Lilliput, from Nov. 19, 1740, to Feb. 23, 1742–3, inclusive. acknowl.

Considerations on the Dispute between Crousaz and Warburton on Pope’s Essay on Man. intern. evid.

A Letter announcing that the Life of Mr. Savage was speedily to be published by a person who was favoured with his Confidence. intern. evid.

Advertisement for Osborne concerning the Harleian Catalogue. intern. evid.

1744. Life of Richard Savage. acknowl.

Preface to the Harleian Miscellany, acknowl.

For the Gentleman’s Magazine.

Preface. intern. evid.

1745. Miscellaneous Observations on the Tragedy of Macbeth, with remarks on Sir T. H.’s (Sir Thomas Hanmer’s) Edition of Shakspeare, and proposals for a new Edition of that Poet. acknowl.

1747. Plan for a Dictionary of the ENGLISH LANGUAGE, addressed to Philip Dormer, Earl of Chesterfield. acknowl.

1748. For the Gentleman’s Magazine.

Life of Roscommon. acknowl.

Foreign History, November. intern. evid.

For Dodsley’s PRECEPTOR.

Preface. acknowl.

Vision of Theodore the Hermit. acknowl.

1750. The RAMBLER, the first Paper of which was published 20th of March this year, and the last 17th of March 1752, the day on which Mrs. Johnson died. acknowl.

Letter in the General Advertiser to excite the attention of the Publick to the Performance of Comus, which was next day to be acted at Drury-Lane Playhouse for the Benefit of Milton’s Granddaughter. acknowl.

Preface and Postscript to Lauder’s Pamphlet intitled, ‘An Essay on Milton’s Use and Imitation of the Moderns in his Paradise Lost.’ acknowl.

1751. Life of Cheynel in the Miscellany called ‘The Student.’ acknowl.

Letter for Lauder, addressed to the Reverend Dr. John Douglas, acknowledging his Fraud concerning Milton in Terms of suitable Contrition. acknowl.

Dedication to the Earl of Middlesex of Mrs. Charlotte Lennox’s ‘Female Quixote.’ intern. evid.

1753. Dedication to John Earl of Orrery, of Shakspeare Illustrated, by Mrs. Charlotte Lennox. acknowl.

During this and the following year he wrote and gave to his much loved friend Dr. Bathurst the Papers in the Adventurer, signed T. acknowl.

1754. Life of Edw. Cave in the Gentleman’s Magazine. acknowl.

1755. A DICTIONARY, with a Grammar and History, of the ENGLISH LANGUAGE. acknowl.

An Account of an Attempt to ascertain the Longitude at Sea, by an exact Theory of the Variations of the Magnetical Needle, with a Table of the Variations at the most remarkable Cities in Europe from the year 1660 to 1680. acknowl. This he wrote for Mr. Zachariah Williams, an ingenious ancient Welch Gentleman, father of Mrs. Anna Williams whom he for many years kindly lodged in his House. It was published with a Translation into Italian by Signor Baretti. In a Copy of it which he presented to the Bodleian Library at Oxford, is pasted a Character of the late Mr. Zachariah Williams, plainly written by Johnson. intern. evid.

1756. An Abridgement of his Dictionary. acknowl.

Several Essays in the Universal Visitor, which there is some difficulty in ascertaining. All that are marked with two Asterisks have been ascribed to him, although I am confident from internal Evidence, that we should except from these ‘The Life of Chaucer,’ ‘Reflections on the State of Portugal,’ and ‘An Essay on Architecture:’ And from the same Evidence I am confident that he wrote ‘Further Thoughts on Agriculture,’ and ‘A Dissertation on the State of Literature and Authours.’ The Dissertation on the Epitaphs written by Pope he afterwards acknowledged, and added to his ‘Idler.’

Life of Sir Thomas Browne prefixed to a new Edition of his Christian Morals. acknowl.

In the Literary Magazine; or, Universal Review, which began in January 1756.

His Original Essays are

Preliminary Address. intern. evid.

An introduction to the Political State of Great Britain. intern. evid.

Remarks on the Militia Bill.⁷ intern. evid.

Observations on his Britannick Majesty’s Treaties with the Empress of Russia and the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel.⁸ intern. evid.

Observations on the Present State of Affairs. intern. evid.

Memoirs of Frederick III. King of Prussia. intern. evid.

In the same Magazine his Reviews are of the following Books:

‘Birch’s History of the Royal Society.’ – ‘Browne’s Christian Morals.’ – ‘Warton’s Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope, Vol. I.’ – ‘Hampton’s Translation of Polybius.’ – ‘Sir Isaac Newton’s Arguments in Proof of a Deity.’ – ‘Borlase’s History of the Isles of Scilly.’ – ‘Home’s Experiments on Bleaching.’ – ‘Browne’s History of Jamaica.’ – ‘Hales on Distilling Sea Water, Ventilators in Ships, and curing an ill Taste in Milk.’ – ‘Lucas’s Essay on Waters.’ – ‘Keith’s Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops.’ – ‘Philosophical Transactions, Vol. XLIX.’ – ‘Miscellanies by Elizabeth Harrison.’ – ‘Evans’s Map and Account of the Middle Colonies in America.’ – ‘The Cadet, a Military Treatise.’ – ‘The Conduct of the Ministry relating to the present War Impartially examined.’ intern. evid.

‘Mrs. Lennox’s Translation of Sully’s Memoirs.’ – ‘Letter on the Case of Admiral Byng.’⁹ – ‘Appeal to the People concerning Admiral Byng.’ – ‘Hanway’s Eight Days’ Journey, and Essay on Tea.’ – ‘Some further Particulars in Relation to the Case of Admiral Byng, by a Gentleman of Oxford.’ acknowl.

Mr. Jonas Hanway having written an angry Answer to the Review of his Essay on Tea, Johnson in the same Collection made a Reply to it. acknowl. This is the only Instance, it is believed, when he condescended to take Notice of any Thing that had been written against him; and here his chief Intention seems to have been to make Sport.

Dedication to the Earl of Rochford of, and Preface to, Mr. Payne’s Introduction to the Game of Draughts. acknowl.

Introduction to the London Chronicle, an Evening Paper which still subsists with deserved credit. acknowl.

1757. Speech on the Subject of an Address to the Throne after the Expedition to Rochefort;¹⁰ delivered by one of his Friends in some publick Meeting: it is printed in the Gentleman’s Magazine for October 1785. intern. evid.

The first two Paragraphs of the Preface to Sir William Chambers’s Designs of Chinese Buildings, &c. acknowl.

1758. THE IDLER, which began April 5, in this year, and was continued till April 5, 1760. acknowl.

An Essay on the Bravery of the English Common Soldiers was added to it when published in Volumes. acknowl.

1759. Rasselas Prince of Abyssinia, a Tale. acknowl.

Advertisement for the Proprietors of the Idler against certain Persons who pirated those Papers as they came out singly in a Newspaper called the Universal Chronicle or Weekly Gazette. intern. evid.

For Mrs. Charlotte Lennox’s English Version of Brumoy, – ‘A Dissertation on the Greek Comedy,’ and the General Conclusion of the Book. intern. evid.

Introduction to the World Displayed, a Collection of Voyages and Travels. acknowl.

Three Letters in the Gazetteer, concerning the best plan for Black-friars Bridge.¹¹ acknowl.

1760. Address of the Painters to George III. on his Accession to the Throne. intern. evid.

Dedication of Baretti’s Italian and English Dictionary to the Marquis of Abreu, then Envoy-Extraordinary from Spain at the Court of Great-Britain. intern. evid.

Review in the Gentleman’s Magazine of Mr. Tytler’s acute and able Vindication of Mary Queen of Scots. acknowl.

Introduction to the Proceedings of the Committee for Cloathing the French Prisoners.¹² acknowl.

1761. Preface to Rolt’s Dictionary of Trade and Commerce. acknowl.

Corrections and Improvements for Mr. Gwyn the Architect’s Pamphlet, intitled ‘Thoughts on the Coronation of George III.’ acknowl.

1762. Dedication to the King of the Reverend Dr. Kennedy’s Complete

System of Astronomical Chronology, unfolding the Scriptures, Quarto Edition. acknowl.

Concluding Paragraph of that Work. intern. evid.

Preface to the Catalogue of the Artists’ Exhibition. intern. evid.

1763. Character of Collins in the Poetical Calendar, published by Fawkes and Woty. acknowl.

Dedication to the Earl of Shaftesbury of the Edition of Roger Ascham’s English Works, published by the Reverend Mr. Bennet. acknowl.

The Life of Ascham, also prefixed to that edition. acknowl.

Review of Telemachus, a Masque, by the Reverend George Graham of Eton College, in the Critical Review. acknowl.

Dedication to the Queen of Mr. Hoole’s Translation of Tasso. acknowl.

Account of the Detection of the Imposture of the Cock-Lane Ghost,¹³ published in the Newspapers and Gentleman’s Magazine. acknowl.

1764. Part of a Review of Grainger’s ‘Sugar Cane, a Poem,’ in the London Chronicle. acknowl.

Review of Goldsmith’s Traveller, a Poem, in the Critical Review.

1765. The Plays of William Shakspeare, in eight volumes, 8vo. with Notes. acknowl.

1766. The Fountains, a Fairy Tale, in Mrs. Williams’s Miscellanies. acknowl.

1767. Dedication to the King of Mr. Adam’s Treatise on the Globes. acknowl.

1769. Character of the Reverend Mr. Zachariah Mudge, in the London Chronicle. acknowl.

1770. The False Alarm. acknowl.

1771. Thoughts on the late Transactions respecting Falkland’s Islands.¹⁴ acknowl.

1772. Defence of a Schoolmaster; dictated to me for the House of Lords. acknowl.

Argument in Support of the Law of Vicious Intromission; dictated to me for the Court of Session in Scotland. acknowl.

1773. Preface to Macbean’s ‘Dictionary of Ancient Geography.’ acknowl.

Argument in Favour of the Rights of Lay Patrons; dictated to me for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. acknowl.

1774. The Patriot. acknowl.

1775. A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland. acknowl.

Proposals for publishing the Works of Mrs. Charlotte Lennox, in Three Volumes Quarto. acknowl.

Preface to Baretti’s Easy Lessons in Italian and English. intern. evid.

Taxation no Tyranny; an Answer to the Resolutions and Address of the American Congress.¹⁵ acknowl.

Argument on the Case of Dr. Memis; dictated to me for the Court of Session in Scotland. acknowl.

Argument to prove that the Corporation of Stirling was corrupt; dictated to me for the House of Lords. acknowl.

1776. Argument in Support of the Right of immediate, and personal reprehension from the Pulpit; dictated to me. acknowl.

Proposals for publishing an Analysis of the Scotch Celtick Language, by the Reverend William Shaw. acknowl.

1777. Dedication to the King of the Posthumous Works of Dr. Pearce, Bishop of Rochester. acknowl.

Additions to the Life and Character of that Prelate; prefixed to those Works. acknowl.

Various Papers and Letters in Favour of the Reverend Dr. Dodd. acknowl.

1780. Advertisement for his Friend Mr. Thrale to the Worthy Electors of the Borough of Southwark. acknowl.

The first Paragraph of Mr. Thomas Davies’s Life of Garrick, acknowl.

1781. Prefaces Biographical and Critical to the Works of the most eminent English Poets; afterwards published with the Title of Lives of the English Poets. acknowl.

Argument on the Importance of the Registration of Deeds; dictated to me for an Election Committee of the House of Commons. acknowl.

On the Distinction between TORY and WHIG; dictated to me. acknowl.

On Vicarious Punishments, and the great Propitiation for the Sins of the World, by JESUS CHRIST; dictated to me. acknowl.

Argument in favour of Joseph Knight, an African Negro, who claimed his Liberty in the Court of Session in Scotland, and obtained it; dictated to me. acknowl.

Defence of Mr. Robertson, Printer of the Caledonian Mercury, against the Society of Procurators in Edinburgh, for having inserted in his Paper a ludicrous Paragraph against them; demonstrating that it was not an injurious Libel; dictated to me. acknowl.

1782. The greatest part, if not the whole, of a Reply, by the Reverend Mr. Shaw, to a Person at Edinburgh, of the Name of Clark, refuting his arguments for the authenticity of the Poems published by Mr. James Macpherson as Translations from Ossian. intern. evid.

1784. List of the Authours of the Universal History, deposited in the British Museum, and printed in the Gentleman’s Magazine for December, this year. acknowl.

Various Years.

Letters to Mrs. Thrale. acknowl.

Prayers and Meditations, which he delivered to the Rev. Mr. Strahan, enjoining him to publish them. acknowl.

Sermons left for Publication by John Taylor, LL.D., Prebendary of Westminster, and given to the World by the Reverend Samuel Hayes, A. M. intern. evid.

Such was the number and variety of the Prose Works of this extraordinary man, which I have been able to discover, and am at liberty to mention; but we ought to keep in mind, that there must undoubtedly have been many more which are yet concealed; and we may add to the account, the numerous Letters which he wrote, of which a considerable part are yet unpublished. It is hoped that those persons in whose possession they are, will favour the world with them.

JAMES BOSWELL.

‘After my death I wish no other herald,

‘No other speaker of my living actions,

‘To keep mine honour from corruption,

‘But such an honest chronicler as Griffith.’^a¹⁶

SHAKSPEARE, Henry VIII.

James Boswell