James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (29 October 1740 – 19 May 1795) was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is best known for the biography he wrote of one of his contemporaries, the English literary figure Samuel Johnson, which the modern Johnsonian critic Harold Bloom has claimed is the greatest biography written in the English language.
Boswell's surname has passed into the English language as a term (Boswell, Boswellian, Boswellism) for a constant companion and observer, especially one who records those observations in print. In A Scandal in Bohemia, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's character Sherlock Holmes affectionately says of Dr. Watson, who narrates the tales, "I am lost without my Boswell."
Read more about James Boswell: Early Life, European Travels, Mature Life, Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson, Slavery, Discovery of Papers, Works, Published Journals
Famous quotes containing the words james boswell, james and/or boswell:
“EDWARDS: “You are a philosopher, Dr. Johnson. I have tried too in my time to be a philosopher; but, I don’t know how, cheerfulness was always breaking in.””
—James Boswell (1740–1795)
“All it means, if you wilt that way with a lady, is that you haven’t yet really met her. You’re not trying to make love to a woman, you’re trying not to miss an opportunity.”
—Clive James (b. 1939)
“I have Johnsonised the land; and I trust they will not only talk, but think, Johnson.”
—James Boswell (1740–1795)