The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D., and the Journal of
his Tour to the Hebrides. By James Boswell. Illustrated by Sir Joshua Rey- nolds. Edited by Henry Morley. 5 vols. (Routledge and Sons.)— A fineredition of one of the finest classics in the language must not be pissed by without recognition. Boswell's Johnson may t e almost said to grow in interest as the years go by, since it presents a state of society bearing little resemblance to our own, and brings before us a man whose striking personality belonged to the age, and had freer scope in it than any author by profession could find in ours. Therefore it is that, while gaining a fuller knowledge of Johnson than it is possible to gain of any other distinguished writer, we acquire also from his biography the most distinct impression of the form and body of the time. But, indeed, it would be idle to attempt to sum up in a word or two all the wealth that is to be gleaned front this immortal work. The wit, the humour, the practical wisdom, the humanity, the manliness, the reverence, that make these pages so attractive, are no doubt associated with leas agreeable qualities. What these are we all know, bat the book loses none of its value on account of them,—nay, it gains infinitely in verisimilitude ; and we do not love Johnson the less because Boswell has been bold enough to record the faults of his great master. Boswell has said a good many foolish things in his book ; but he was not unwise or unjust to Johnson's memory in recording the frailties of the moralist. Mr. Morley appears to bold a different opinion. "There is," he writes, " a low-minded suggestion made by Boswell towards the close of his book to account for Johnson's sense of his unworthiness." We cannot think that the suggestion is low-minded, and assuredly it is not disproved, as the editor seems to imagine, by the moralist's noble charity and tenderness towards the sorrowful and the fallen. Under the heading, "The Spirit of Johnson," Mr. Morley gives us his impressions of the book and of the man. His re- marks are very brief—they occupy only five pages—and with the exception we have quoted they are just. But there is not sufficient point or body in his ciiticism to make it worthy of a place in an edition of the Life. What he adys is true ; but to all readers familiar with their Boswell it is obvious, and coming at the conclusion of a work which the reader may be supposed to have perused, it is surely superfluous. However, if the writer have committed a fault, it is a slight oue, and his editorial labours will be welcomed by all who prize the biography. It is not, we think, more than two years since Mr. Bell brought out his magnificent edition of Boswell's Johnson in five massive volumes. The work was essentially an edition de lure, and not one which a poor student could hope to see upon his shelves. It was, however, an edition that well merited a place in all great libraries ; but being very costly, this beautiful "Sir Joshua Reynolds' edition" cannot be regarded as a rival. The principal feature of the work is the series of portraits by Sir Joshua ; and by no means inconsiderable is the value of Professor Morley's notes, some of which are of great length. The book is one to gladden the eyes of the bibliophile ; and every reader who sympathises in the keen but indescribable enjoyment of a book-hunter in pursuit of fine copies, will covet the possession of an edition which is a credit both to publishers and editor.
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