The third of four volumes in the Yale Research Edition's transcription of Boswell's working manuscript of the Life of Johnson, covering Samuel Johnson's life from March 1776 through 1780.

Edited by Thomas F. Bonnell using the genetic transcription system established by Marshall Waingrow in Volume 1, the volume reconstructs Boswell's composition process from initial draft through the revisions, cancellations, and insertions made in collaboration with Edmond Malone. Major episodes in this portion of the manuscript include the famous May 15, 1776 dinner uniting Johnson and John Wilkes at the home of the booksellers Edward and Charles Dilly, Boswell and Johnson's September 1777 stay at Ashbourne in Derbyshire, Johnson's efforts on behalf of the condemned clergyman Dr. William Dodd, and Boswell's spring visits to London in 1778 and 1779.