When it first appeared in 1985, Boswell's Life of Johnson brought together the most recent and most lively assessments of the literary merit and historical accuracy of Boswell's biography. In an invigorating exchange placed at the center of the collection, Donald Greene's description of the Life as a fictionalized biography that screens the real, complex Johnson from view is challenged by Frederick Pottle's defense of Boswell's biographical method, of his sturdy compilation of detail that presents the factual rather than the fictional Johnson. Other essays explore the effect of...
When it first appeared in 1985, Boswell's Life of Johnson brought together the most recent and most lively assessments of the literary merit an...
No area of Johnsonian studies has been less appreciated and more misunderstood than Johnson's response to history. Popular notions to the effect that he was insensitive to history have discouraged scholars and critics from discovering the role history played in his thinking. In this first book-length investigation of the subject, John A. Vance concludes that few misconceptions about Samuel Johnson have been so glaring as his supposed dislike of history.
More specifically, in separate chapters Vance examines the development of Johnson's historical sense--from his readings, heritage, and...
No area of Johnsonian studies has been less appreciated and more misunderstood than Johnson's response to history. Popular notions to the effect th...
