Life of Samuel Johnson

The Life of Samuel Johnson is a biography written by James Boswell published in 1791. It is considered one of the greatest biographies in the English language and provides a detailed and vivid portrait of the renowned writer and lexicographer Samuel Johnson. Boswell a Scottish lawyer and writer first met Johnson in 1763 and the two men became close friends. Over the years Boswell took extensive notes on Johnsons conversations and habits and these notes became the basis for his biography. The Life of Samuel Johnson is a comprehensive account of Johnsons life from his childhood in Lichfield to his early struggles as a writer to his success as a literary figure in London. Boswell provides a richly detailed portrait of Johnsons character his eccentricities and his intellectual achievements. In addition to chronicling Johnsons life Boswells biography also offers a fascinating glimpse into 18th-century London and the literary scene of the time. The book includes numerous anecdotes and conversations involving Johnson and other literary figures such as Edmund Burke Joshua Reynolds and Oliver Goldsmith.