James Boswell (1740-1795)

James Boswell (1740-1795) - advocate, traveller, journalist, Scotsman and author of that most amazing book, the Life of Johnson.

Born on the 29th of October, 1740 in Edinburgh, he became known for his friendship with Dr. Johnson, his Account of Corsica (1768) and in the last years of his life, for the 1791 biography of his friend Samuel Johnson. During the course of his life he met an amazing number of the great and powerful, of the literati, the philosophers, academics and advocates of his time. In 1769 he married his cousin Margareth Montgomerie, and in 1782 he became the 9th Laird of Auchinleck, his ancestral home. He died in May 1795 in London, following weeks of serious illness.

Discovered by scholars in the 1920s, Boswell's long-lost journals was one of the major literary discoveries of the 20th century. In his detailed and honest journal entries from the early 1760s until shortly before his death, we get his unique first-hand observations of life and personalities in the second half of the 18th century. Had he not written the Life of Johnson, his journals would still secure his fame for posterity.

Look around on jamesboswell.info to find:

A growing number of biographies of the people he mentions in his extensive journals, among them Thomas Sheridan, Pasquale Paoli, James Bruce, William Forbes, John Wilkes and David Hume. When we last counted we had more than 450 of them.

A bibliography with descriptions, information and reviews of many of the books written by or about Boswell and his circle

A list of Frequently Asked Questions - or rather, specific and interesting questions about James Boswell

A forum for discussing everything Boswell - writing a term report? got a question? an interesting observation? Let's have it in the forum!

 A collection of original texts by James Boswell, including some of his verses and prologues