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Did you know?

James Boswell died in 1795 believing he had touched and kissed a cache of Shakespeare's original letters and papers discovered by a Mr. Ireland. His friend, Edmond Malone, publicly exposed the lot as a forgery just a year later.

Biographies

James Boswell mentioned thousands of people in his extensive journals and other writings. Read about an ever increasing number of those people, and about their relationship with Boswell, in our biographies section.

Literature

In our literature section you can read about the numerous books published by Boswell in his own lifetime, and about more than 40 other books about or related to Boswell published since his death in 1795.

August, Prince of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

Born 1747 in Gotha
Died Sep 28, 1806 in Gotha

Biography:

Son of Frederick III and Luise Dorothea of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, and brother of Ernest II Ludwig.

He first embarked on a military career, joining the teutonic knights in 1764 before going into the service of a Dutch regiment of infantery, but left military service in 1772 to live the rest of his life as a patron of arts of literature. Among his correspondents were Herder, Göthe and Wieland.1 Witty and given to sarcasm.2

Life with Boswell:

During his visit to the court of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg on October 17, 1764, Boswell described August as "very brisk".

Notes:

Note 1: http://www.uni-erfurt.de/bibliothek/programm/projekte/privatbibliotheken-aus-dem-zeitalter-der-aufklaerung/pb-pa/

Note 2: The Journal of his German and Swiss Travels, 1764, p. 168