The correspondence and other papers of James Boswell relating to the making of the Life of Johnson

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"The volume, with revised and updated annotation, shows Boswell's struggles through his personal distresses to gather material for his Life of Johnson. It notes many of his revisions of his sources, changes made in manuscript and proof, and revisions of the first and second editions. It also presents letters that illuminate the contemporary reception of his powerfully innovative, controversial, and influential biography (which appeared first in 1791), taking the story as far as exchanges in 1808 between Boswell's friend and editor, Edmond Malone, and his son, James Boswell the younger, about corrections for the sixth edition of 1811. Throughout, the annotation brings to life an extensive range of eighteenth-century figures, issues and topics."--Jacket.