Chapter I: Preface

The responsibility for upwards of 300 pages in print is a burden which my unaccustomed conscience cannot easily bear, and by accepting it I lose for ever the unassailable dignity of private criticism. In these circumstances I approach my readers in an apologetic frame of mind. I shall not apologise for writing a dull book by explaining in what manner it is interesting. I had thought of doing something of the sort, but at the present moment that course presents insuperable difficulties. An explanation, if not apology, is however necessary; for this volume is in one sense a compromise. It is less than a biography and more than an essay. It aims at being not a complete Life of Boswell, but an explanation of his character. This purpose may not seem to require so long a treatment as mine. Certainly it would have been easier to say, and easier to read, all that I have said about Boswell's psychology in far fewer words. But my design was to prove my case. Boswell has been so much a subject of controversy that, were I merely to state my views, I should convince, if anyone is to be convinced by me, only those who had observed the same facts as myself--the facts upon which those views are based. By bringing forward the evidence without stint I have hoped to establish my opinions on a firmer base.

A list of the books to which I have referred is printed at the beginning of this volume. I am naturally indebted to the researches of Dr. G. Birkbeck Hill, to the three biographers of Boswell--Dr. Rogers (in 'Boswelliana'), Mr. Percy Fitzgerald, and Mr. W. K. Leask--and to the brilliant study by Carlyle. I must also mention three essays which have been particularly illuminating--that by W. E. Henley in 'Views and Reviews,' by Lionel Johnson in 'Post Liminium,' and by Mr. Birrell in his edition of Boswell's 'Life of Johnson.'

I am grateful especially to Mr. A. C. Benson, whose encouragement promoted this enterprise, to Mr. G. L. Strachey for many valuable suggestions, and to Mr. E. H. Marsh for correcting my proofs, which was no mean labour.

GEORGE MALLORY.

CHARTERHOUSE:
_July 25, 1912_.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

[This is a list of books bearing directly upon Boswell which have been used for this volume.]

Birrell, A., Introduction to his edition of Boswell's
Life of Johnson London, 1906

Boswell, James:
Elegy on the Death of an Amiable Young Lady 1761

Ode to Tragedy 1761

Collection of Original Poems, contributions to 1762

The Cub at Newmarket 1762

Critical Strictures on Mallet's Elvira, by A. Erskine and
J. Boswell 1763

Correspondence with the Hon. Andrew Erskine 1763

Dorando, a Spanish Tale 1767

Essence of the Douglas Cause 1767

Account of Corsica, &c., 2nd edition 1768
(1st edition was published 1768)

British Essays in favour of the Brave Corsicans 1769

The Hypochondriack in the London Magazine, Oct. 1777
to Dec. 1779

Letter to the People of Scotland on the Present State of
the Nation 1783

Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides. Ed. G. Birkbeck Hill 1887
(1st edition 1785)

Letter to the People of Scotland against the attempt to
diminish the number of the Lords of Session 1785

No Abolition of Slavery, or the Universal Empire of Love 1791

Life of Johnson. Ed. Right Hon. John Wilson Croker 1866

Life of Samuel Johnson. Ed. G. Birkbeck Hill. 6 vols.
Oxford, 1887[1]
(1st edition 1791)

Letters to Temple, reprint London, 1908[1]

---- Life of, see Rogers, Fitzgerald, and Leask.

Boswelliana, the Commonplace Book of James Boswell,
London, Grampian Club, 1876

Burke, Edmund, Correspondence London, 1824

Burney, Miss, _see_ D'Arblay.

Campbell, Rev. Dr. Thomas, Diary London, 1854

Carlyle, Miscellanies London, 1872

Chatham, Earl of, Correspondence. 4 vols. London, 1838

Collection of Original Poems Edinburgh, 1763

Croker, Right Hon. John Wilson, Correspondence
and Diaries. 3 vols. London, 1884

D'Arblay, Diary of Madame. Ed. Austin Dobson.
6 vols. London, 1904

---- Memoirs of Dr. Burney. 3 vols. London, 1832

Edinburgh, Traditions of 1869

Eldon, Lord Chancellor, Life of, by Horace Twiss.
3 vols. London, 1844

Fitzgerald, Percy, Life of Boswell London, 1891

Forbes, Sir William, Life of James Beattie London, 1806

Gentleman's Magazine

Goldsmith, Life by James Prior. 2 vols. London, 1837

Gray, Life by Mason. 2 vols. London, 1807

Hawkins, Sir John, Life of Johnson London, 1787

---- Lætitia Matilda, Memoirs. 2 vols. London, 1824

Henley, W. E., Views and Reviews London, 1902

Hill, Dr. George Birkbeck, Life of Johnson. 6 vols. Oxford, 1887

---- Dr. Johnson, his Friends and Critics London, 1878
_See also_ Johnson Club Papers.

Holcroft, Thomas, Memoirs. 3 vols. London, 1816

Hume, David, Correspondence London, 1846

Ireland, S. W. H., The Confessions of W. H.
Ireland London, 1805

Johnson, Dr. Samuel, Dictionary London, 1755

---- Lives of the Poets London, 1781

---- Journey to the Western Islands London, 1775

Johnson, Lionel, Post Liminium, Critical Essays London, 1911

Johnson Club Papers, by various hands London, 1899

Leask, W. K., James Boswell, Famous Scots Series. Edinburgh, 1896

London Magazine

Macaulay, Critical and Historical Essays. 3 vols. London, 1843

Malone, Life of, Prior London, 1860

More, Hannah, Memoirs of. 4 vols. London, 1834

Nichols, John, Literary Anecdotes of the XVIIIth
Century. 9 vols. London, 1812-15

---- Literary History of the XVIIIth Century.
8 vols. London, 1817-58

Piozzi, Mrs., Autobiography. 2 vols. London, 1861

---- Johnson's Letters to. 2 vols. London, 1788

---- Anecdotes of the late Samuel Johnson,
2nd edition London, 1789

Raleigh, Sir Walter, Six Essays on Johnson Oxford, 1910

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, Life by Leslie and Taylor.
2 vols. London, 1865

Rogers, Rev. Charles, Memoir of Boswell, in Boswelliana

Taylor, John, Records of My Life London, 1832

Trevelyan, Sir G. O., Life of Fox London, 1912

Walpole, Horace, Letters. 9 vols. London, 1861

[Footnote 1: All references are to this edition.]

BOSWELL THE BIOGRAPHER