2 volumes, 4to (279 x 216 mm). Engraved frontispiece in vol. I of Johnson after Sir Joshua Reynolds, 2 engravings in vol. II. (Marginal spotting to frontispiece with some offsetting to title-page, very occasional spotting throughout.) Early polished calf (rebacked); slipcase. Provenance: Sir John Cope (armorial bookplate).

FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE with "gve" reading on p. 135, line 10, of the first volume. "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 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.