The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, with Samuel Johnson, LL.D. By James Boswell, Esq. Containing Some Poetical Pieces by Dr. Johnson, Relative to the Tour, and Never before Published; A Series of His Conversation, Literary Anecdotes, and Opinions of Men and Books: With an Authentick Account of the Distresses and Escape of the Grandson of King James II. In the Year 1746...
London: Henry Baldwin for Charles Dilly, 1785.
Sm. 8vo, iii-vii (lacks half-title), [1], 524, [1]pp. Modern full diaper calf panelled in gilt, backstrip stamped and lettered in gilt with 4 raised bands, a lovely retrospective binding by Dusel. Light scuff on upper board, early name on title page; a clean and attractive copy.
§ First edition, mixed issue; E3, E4 and M4 are cancels, as usual; leaves I5, Q7 and U6 are in Pottle's second state. We first sold this copy in 2005 after Dusel rebound it. It makes a very attractive gift copy. "Though the Life is a vaster and richer piece of work, no one will maintain that it displays Boswell's unique gift for biography better than the Tour. Indeed, most lovers of Boswell will agree that the Tour as a whole, is more consistently good than the Life; that is, that nowhere in the Life could one find so many consecutive first-class pages as those that compose this book" (Pottle 57). Rothschild 456. Item #122700
Price: $950.00