James Boswell
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James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck, was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of the English writer Samuel Johnson, Life of Samuel Johnson, which is commonly said to be the greatest biography written in the English language.
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Photos 6
Boswell's Edinburgh. In his journals he often mentions using the "Back Stairs" behind Parliament Close. His birthplace was the family's town house on the east side of the close, just around the corner at the top of the steps.
James Boswell by George Willison in Rome in 1765. Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh
A commemorative plaque to Boswell at his former home at James Court, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh
A literary party at Sir Joshua Reynolds' - 1781. The painting shows the friends of Reynolds including Boswell at left.
Account of Corsica, 1768In their orbit 11
Writers from United Kingdom 6
About this person
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck, was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of the English writer Samuel Johnson, Life of Samuel Johnson, which is commonly said to be the greatest biography written in the English language. A great mass of Boswell's diaries, letters, and private papers were recovered from the 1920s to the 1950s, and their publication by Yale University significantly elevated his standing among modern scholars.
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