BOSWELL, James (1740-1795). Autograph letter signed to Mary Langton, Countess of Rothe (1743-1820), London, 23 December 1789. 3 pages, folio, foxed, creases expertly repaired, ink burn (repairs and ink burn resulting in the loss of portions of a few letters). Docketed on verso of signature page .
BOSWELL, James (1740-1795). Autograph letter signed to Mary Langton, Countess of Rothe (1743-1820), London, 23 December 1789. 3 pages, folio, foxed, creases expertly repaired, ink burn (repairs and ink burn resulting in the loss of portions of a few letters). Docketed on verso of signature page . "MY LIFE OF DR. JOHNSON IS AT LAST VERY NEAR BEING PUT TO THE PRESS" ONE OF ONLY TWO BOSWELL LETTERS ABOUT THE WRITING OF THE LIFE OF JOHNSON TO APPEAR AT AUCTION IN THE LAST 36 YEARS. Boswell writes the wife of one of Samuel Johnson's oldest friends, Bennet Langton (ca. 1736-1801), who also became a friend to Boswell as well as an important source of information for the Life of Johnson , Boswell's magnum opus . Here he asks Countess Rothe to pass along to Langton a set of queries for that work. "My life of Dr. Johnson is at last very near being put to the press. I am at a loss for a small circumstance or two. When Mr. Langton was asked to look his watch at Oxford, and see how much time there was for writing an Idler before the post went out was it half an hour? Or how long? What year was Dr. Johnson at Langton? Who was the General that was very civil to him at Warley Common and what remarks did Johnson make? What is the gentlest account of Sir John Hawkins's putting up a Manuscript Volume of Johnson's, and what followed? What were Johnson's various remarks?" Boswell refers to Johnson's Idler essays, and it was his earlier, more famous sequence The Rambler that drew the attention of both Langton and Boswell to Johnson, and caused both young men to seek interviews with the "Great Cham" of literature. Strong and enduring friendships with both men soon developed. Langton--to the Countess of Rothe's annoyance--often appears in the biography as an example of reckless spending. Boswell also alludes to the recent death of his wife, Margaret, from tuberculosis in June: "the want of such a comfortable home as yours was to me at all times is much felt, especially now when I have much need of comfort." The biography went to the press in 1789, but the process of revision--under the friendly spur and guidance of fellow Johnsonian Edmond Malone--was long and arduous. Boswell was bereaved by grief and guilt over his ill-used wife, dispirited by his flagging legal career, and by the several biographies that had already preceded his work, more than five years after Johnson's death. But he pressed on, finally bringing into existence in May 1791 the greatest biography in the English language. Published in Waingrow, Correspondence and Other Papers of James Boswell Relating to the Making of the "Life of Johnson" , 2d ed., 295. Provenance : Sotheby's, London, 21 July 1988, lot 20.
BOSWELL, James (1740-1795). Autograph letter signed to Mary Langton, Countess of Rothe (1743-1820), London, 23 December 1789. 3 pages, folio, foxed, creases expertly repaired, ink burn (repairs and ink burn resulting in the loss of portions of a few letters). Docketed on verso of signature page .
BOSWELL, James (1740-1795). Autograph letter signed to Mary Langton, Countess of Rothe (1743-1820), London, 23 December 1789. 3 pages, folio, foxed, creases expertly repaired, ink burn (repairs and ink burn resulting in the loss of portions of a few letters). Docketed on verso of signature page . "MY LIFE OF DR. JOHNSON IS AT LAST VERY NEAR BEING PUT TO THE PRESS" ONE OF ONLY TWO BOSWELL LETTERS ABOUT THE WRITING OF THE LIFE OF JOHNSON TO APPEAR AT AUCTION IN THE LAST 36 YEARS. Boswell writes the wife of one of Samuel Johnson's oldest friends, Bennet Langton (ca. 1736-1801), who also became a friend to Boswell as well as an important source of information for the Life of Johnson , Boswell's magnum opus . Here he asks Countess Rothe to pass along to Langton a set of queries for that work. "My life of Dr. Johnson is at last very near being put to the press. I am at a loss for a small circumstance or two. When Mr. Langton was asked to look his watch at Oxford, and see how much time there was for writing an Idler before the post went out was it half an hour? Or how long? What year was Dr. Johnson at Langton? Who was the General that was very civil to him at Warley Common and what remarks did Johnson make? What is the gentlest account of Sir John Hawkins's putting up a Manuscript Volume of Johnson's, and what followed? What were Johnson's various remarks?" Boswell refers to Johnson's Idler essays, and it was his earlier, more famous sequence The Rambler that drew the attention of both Langton and Boswell to Johnson, and caused both young men to seek interviews with the "Great Cham" of literature. Strong and enduring friendships with both men soon developed. Langton--to the Countess of Rothe's annoyance--often appears in the biography as an example of reckless spending. Boswell also alludes to the recent death of his wife, Margaret, from tuberculosis in June: "the want of such a comfortable home as yours was to me at all times is much felt, especially now when I have much need of comfort." The biography went to the press in 1789, but the process of revision--under the friendly spur and guidance of fellow Johnsonian Edmond Malone--was long and arduous. Boswell was bereaved by grief and guilt over his ill-used wife, dispirited by his flagging legal career, and by the several biographies that had already preceded his work, more than five years after Johnson's death. But he pressed on, finally bringing into existence in May 1791 the greatest biography in the English language. Published in Waingrow, Correspondence and Other Papers of James Boswell Relating to the Making of the "Life of Johnson" , 2d ed., 295. Provenance : Sotheby's, London, 21 July 1988, lot 20.
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