Did you know?

The ill-fated mountaineer George Mallory's only book was "Boswell the Biographer"?

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.

William Butter - Doctor of Medicine

William Butter

Born Feb 1726
Died May 23, 1805 in London

Alias:

Dr. Butter

Biography:

Married (1767) to Catherine Douglas, a cousin of James Boswell. Sometime physician at Derby.

According to James P. Warbasse in the article "Doctors of Samuel Johnson and his Court":

"[Dr. Butter] practiced at Derby till he acquired moderate fortune and then moved to London. He was the author of a number of treatises, and be came a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians."1

Life with Boswell:

Dr. Butter was married to the daughter of Sir John Douglas, a first cousin of James Boswell. He is mentioned a few times in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D., and it was in connection with a visit by Johnson and Boswell to Dr. Butter that the famous quote "We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed..." occured.

Notes:

Note 1: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1692625/pdf/medlibhistj00003-0050.pdf