2 volumes, 4to (277 x 216 mm). Engraved portrait frontispiece of Johnson by James Heath after Sir Joshua Reynolds, 2 engraved plates of facsimiles by H. Shepherd. (Vol. I title-page reinforced at gutter, some light soiling, a few tiny mostly marginal wormholes, marginal tear with loss not affecting text to [X3] in vol. II.) Contemporary speckled calf, spine in 6 compartments with 5 raised bands gilt, red and black leather lettering-pieces gilt (re-backed preserving original boards, joints cracking, some light chipping); brown cloth slipcase. Provenance: Abel E. Berland (bookplates).

FIRST EDITION, second issue of the most celebrated biography in the English language, with "give" on p.135 of Vol.I , the initial blank in vol. II, and all 7 cancels. 1,750 copies of the first edition were printed. "Homer is not more decidedly the first of heroic poets, Shakespeare is not more decidedly the first of the dramatists, Demosthenes is not more sensibly the first of orators, than Boswell is the first of biographers" (Macaulay). Boswell's great biography of his friend, author Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was published 16 May 1791 and achieved immediate critical acclaim. It has not been out of print since. ESTC T64481; Grolier English 65; Rothschild 463; Tinker 338.