Boswell spent some of the happiest days of his life visiting Berlin and several of the lesser German courts. He also met the famous philosophers Rosseau and Voltaire. As a consequence, this volume is probably the most positive and optimistic of his journals.

Versions

This volume was edited by Frederick Pottle, and was first published in 1753. As was the case with the two previous volumes, it came in two editions, a standard edition and a deluxe edition printed in just 1000 numbered copies. The deluxe edition was of a better quality, and contained more illustrations than the standard edition, but no additional text.

On April 29, 2008 an annotated version of the journal of his Grand Tour through Germany and Switzerland was published as the first volume in the Research Edition: Journals.

Availability

The standard edition is always available rather cheaply via Abebooks . The deluxe edition is also available via Abebooks but usually sells for no less than £45 - and often for more than £75.