—“Mr. Johnson, (said I) I do indeed come from Scotland, but I cannot help it.”
—“That, Sir, I find, is what a very great many of your countrymen cannot help.”
May 16 is Biographers Day – marking the 1st meeting of James Boswell & Samuel Johnson in 1763
#Scottish #literature #biography #SamuelJohnson #JamesBoswell #18thCentury
@bookstodon
1/4
https://lithub.com/of-course-samuel-johnson-met-james-boswell-in-a-bookstore/
“The Life of Samuel Johnson was an instant sensation. While the works of Johnson were quickly forgotten, his biography has never been out of print”
—When the Worst Man in the World Writes a Masterpiece: James Boswell & the nature of genius
#Scottish #literature #biography #SamuelJohnson #JamesBoswell #18thCentury
2/4
https://fantasticanachronism.com/2020/10/22/when-the-worst-man-in-the-world-writes-a-masterpiece/
Was Boswell just an idiot who had the good fortune to meet Johnson and write his biography? Or is this “Samuel Johnson” actually a brilliant dramatic character created by Boswell?
Read Jorge Luis Borges’ “A Lecture on Johnson & Boswell”, in the New York Review of Books
#Scottish #literature #biography #SamuelJohnson #JamesBoswell #18thCentury #Borges
3/4
https://www.nybooks.com/online/2013/07/28/lecture-johnson-and-boswell/
The Many Lives of James Boswell
From 2022: Terry Seymour’s talk for the Edinburgh Bibliographic Society, discussing his extraordinary collection of books, papers, & artworks identified with James Boswell – including private papers, family portraits, personal books, & more first editions of Boswell’s Life of Johnson than in any library in the world, except for Harvard.
#Scottish #literature #biography #SamuelJohnson #JamesBoswell #18thCentury
4/4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSE-cbLmbTM
@scotlit 😂 great title!
