The Journals of James Boswell: 1762-1795 [Paperback]

James Boswell (Author), Mr. John Wain (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In 1764, at the age of 24, Boswell sent an autobiographical sketch to Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Boswell promised, "I shall not conceal my weaknesses and follies. I shall not even conceal my crimes." For more than 30 years, from 1762, when he set out for London to seek a commission in the Royal Foot Guards, to his death in 1795, Boswell recorded in his journals those weaknesses and follies, his "various sentiments and . . . various conduct"; his account proved, as Boswell had promised, "not only useful but very agreeable." Yale owns the Boswell manuscripts--Wain's introduction briefly discusses their startling recovery early in this century--and it recently completed the publication of the trade edition of the journals in 13 volumes. From these Wain has created a handsome one-volume selection. Although Wain includes many of the most famous passages, such as Boswell's meeting with Samuel Johnson in the back room of Tom Davies's bookshop on May 16, 1763 and Boswell's final parting from the great lexicographer at the entry to Bolt Court on June 30, 1784, much must of necessity be omitted. True Boswellians will not want to lose a word of the originals, but those for whom the discovery of Boswell's journals remains an unexperienced delight will find Wain's edition a pleasant and tantalizing introduction.
- Joseph Rosenblum, Univ. of North Carolina, Greensboro
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 445 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (October 26, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300060742
• ISBN-13: 978-0300060744
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #990,808 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A look inside the mind of an engaging scoundrel, May 29, 2000

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Charlene Vickers (Winnipeg, Manitoba) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Journals of James Boswell: 1762-1795 (Paperback)

James Boswell has been called everything from an engaging gentleman to a vicious scoundrel. A true man of his times, Boswell combined naivete with crudity, tenderness with violence, courtesy with thoughtlessness, enthusiasm with snobbery, true religious feeling with wanton depravity.

But how can so many contradictory traits exist alongside each other in the same man? And how does that man see himself? This selection of Boswell's journals attempts to answer that question. Editor John Wain tells Boswell's story in Boswell's words, through excerpts from his journals, letters, legal pleadings, and published writings. We learn about his love life (in some detail), his marriage, his career, his impossible relationship with his domineering Whig father, and his emotional struggles in writing the _Life of Johnson_. We also get a concrete feeling for Boswell's emotional instability, his sense that he would never be good enough for his father (and he was right, unfortunately), and his tremendous guilt over his infidelity.

This book is an excellent introduction to James Boswell. I definitely recommend it.

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best biographies ever, May 31, 2002

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Dr (Jackson Heights, NY, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Journals of James Boswell: 1762-1795 (Hardcover)

John Wain condenced 17 volumes of autobiography into this taught, energetic, flowing narrative. I was captivated!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OK, I haven't read it, but I have an opinion anyway..., September 15, 2008

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J. A. Haverstick (Lancaster, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Journals of James Boswell: 1762-1795 (Paperback)

I know John Wain is a credible Boswell scholar, but I do not have this edition of the Journals. I do have a complete run of the journals, a dozen or so volumes, of which I have read every word. In my mind, Boswell is easily the most astonishing diarist of all time. The clarity of his self-analysis is almost startling, I truly feel more acquanted with him than almost any person I know in person. Additionally, if you have any interest in history, sociology, or philosophy...Boswell knew and acosted almost everybody you've heard of from the 18th Cent. Got drunk with Hume while Dave was on his deathbed, screwed Voltaire's wife...his adventures, drunk or sober, are unending. I picked up the London Journal twenty years ago in a used book store and from then on it was like eating peanuts. This collection seems like a good idea for those who want a taste of the whole.