Four Portraits (1945) by Peter Quennell

This book contains biographies, ca. 70 pages each, of James Boswell, historian Edward Gibbon, novelist Laurence Sterne and politician John Wilkes, all of whom in some way shaped the latter part of 18th century England.

The Boswell biography in Four Portraits is, as all biographies of Boswell published prior to 1950, somewhat faulty due to a lack of sources. Quennell seems to draw on Vulliamy's 1932 biography for at least some of his information, which doesn't help much. James Boswells relationship with his father is (correctly) described as somewhat difficult, but then Quennell states that Boswells first visit to London in 1760 had been permitted by his father, and that his 1762-3 stay in the city was the beginning of his grand tour, also agreed to by his father. Alexander Boswell actually did not permit James' 1760 stay in the city, and called on his Ayrshire neighbour Lord Eglinton to check up on him - he then allowed James to stay a bit with the Lord. Alexander Boswell also only grudingly accepted that James stayed in London for a bit in 1762-3 to try to get a commission in the guards, and it was only in the summer of 1763 that any mention of the Grand Tour came up. Another frequent misconception is Quennells stating that Boswell obtained leave to dedicate The Cub at Newmarket to the Duke of York, which was certainly not the case. James is said, by Quennell, to have been born at Auchinleck, while later commentators are quite sure that he was born in the Edinburgh home of Alexander Boswell, who had not yet inherited Auchinleck in 1740.

Most of the part about Boswell deals with his relationship with Johnson, and in that it seems to be mostly correct, mainly because it draws upon Boswells own Life of Johnson, which was of course published in 1791.

The book is still a good buy, though - it can be found very cheaply via Abebooks, and the biographies of Gibbon, Sterne and John Wilkes - all persons who Boswell met at some points - does give an interesting insight into the lives of those other three 18th century personalities. The book was first published by Wm. Collins Sons and Company in 1945.

Quennell himself was born in 1905, educated at Balliol College, Oxford and became a well known writer of biographies (especially of Lord Byron) and reviews. He was knighted in 1992, the year before he died.

If you click the link below, and order your books through Abebooks, I will receive a 3% commission, which will help me maintain this site and perform further research.