James Boswell — The Life of Johnson

London, Office of the National Illustrated Library, 1851. Cloth. A lovely illustrated four volume set detailing the life of this important English writer. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was an English poet, essayist, biographer and literary critic. He published 'A Dictionary of the English Language' in 1755, considered the foremost dictionary of the time until the Oxford English Dictionary was published 173 years later. He was a devout Anglican and firmly opposed slavery; his religious writings emphasize the goodness of charity, repentance, marriage and pride.Written by Scottish biographer James Boswell (1740-1795), this biography is often described as being the greatest biography ever written in English.Profusely illustrated throughout with vignette and full plate engravings. In a full cloth binding. Externally generally smart, some wear in particular to the head of the spine of Vol I and bumping to the tails of all volumes. Internally generally firmly bound, worm damage has weakened the hinges of Vol I but it remains firm, pages are bright and clean. Very Good . Ill.: Not Stated. Very Good .