The Life of Samuel Johnson Volume I: Volume I

When a man writes from his own mind he writes very rapidly. The greatest part of a writers time is spent in reading in order to write; a man will turn over half a library to make one book. -Samuel Johnson The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)The Life of Samuel Johnson Volume I (1791) stands as one of the greatest biographies published documenting the life of arguably the most influential writer of the 18th century. Johnson was a poet essayist and biographer but most notably the writer of the first dictionary in the English language. Boswells work provides much of what is known about the life of Johnson. This first volume of the 1905 edition focuses on Johnsons early life as well as the many conversations between Johnson and his much younger friend Boswell. The book is replete with Johnsons well-known quotes and is a must-read for lovers of literature and history.