Genius Fan

If one is going to celebrate the 75th birthday of Boswell’s London Journal, then one should jolly well do so with a first edition. That was my thinking a few months ago, but I’ve already got a few copies and shelf space is running low…so another volume? Yes, shuttup! Of course, another volume. So, I lurked online for a few days, found a suitable copy, put in my order and it arrived a few days ago. Phew, that’s one part of my life settled and in order.

When I first started putting together my collection of the Yale Editions of the Private Papers of James Boswell, it was back in summer 2021. (I only discovered Boswell, his amazing life and personality, and the story of his ‘lost’ papers…in August, I think.) I didn’t know anything about editions, softcovers, hardcovers, signed copies, ex-library stock, condition, quality and so on. I was just buying books. I went for cheapest…and on that day the copy of Boswell’s London Journal 1762-1763 that was the lowest price was the 1985 Folio Society edition with slip cover. I got it for three quid from Oxfam.

British and American Versions of the London Journal

So last week my ‘longed-for’ first edition arrived and I placed it on the shelf where it belongs – at the start of the Yale Editions series. Buuuuuuuuuut… I’m still not fully satisfied. You see the Yale editions were published in UK (by William Heinemann) and in USA (by McGraw Hill), under an arrangement made in the 1940s, and their cover designs are different. I happen to believe that the McGraw Hill dustcovers are more interesting to look at than the Heinemann covers. So, now I gotta go back online and buy a SEVENTH copy of Boswell’s London Journal, this time a first edition from McGraw Hill. They’re often about £15 + £15 postage.

Both the British and American dustcovers feature a painting of Eighteenth century London’s Temple Bar, an ornate ‘gateway’ through which pedestrians and carriages could pass. It marks the point where The Strand and Fleet Street met on the that east-west road between Westminster and the City. Since the Middle Ages it’s been an iconic feature of the fast-growing city of London. Now, the British cover image is a wider vista, putting the Temple Bar at maybe 80+ metres away, and so less detailed as a consequence. It’s also less contrasty. The image on the US cover however, is a much ‘tighter’ view, maybe 20 metres from the Temple Bar and quite clearly features Boswell and Samuel Johnson in the frame! Brilliant! There’s a sedan chair passing by and a carriage passes under the archway of the Temple Bar. The colour also has more contrast.

The credit on the inside of the dustcover for the British version reads: “The illustration on the front of the wrapper is reproduced from the coloured etching of Temple Bar by Thomas Malton, and is reproduced by permission of the British Museum.” Thomas Malton (Elder or younger, I’m not sure, was an Eighteenth century painter. So this cover image is a painting from round that time. The credit on the inside of the dustcover for the US version reads: “Jacket painting by Robert Hallock from a nineteenth century watercolor in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Donald F Hyde.” Robert Hallock was a Twentieth century illustrator who created the cover by basing it on a painting he saw in a collection. So Boswell and Johnson don’t appear in it by accident!

My copies of Boswell’s London Journal 1762-1763

I present to you (cough) a list of the copies of Boswell’s London Journal, in the order in which I bought them. Pray my wife never reads this.

1. 31 Aug, 2021: Boswell’s London Journal 1762-1763 (Folio Society, hardcover, in slipcase, 1985) – £3. This was my first copy, I bought the cheapest and before I thought about having a set all the same.
2. 26 Oct 2023: Boswell’s London Journal 1762-1763, together with Journal of My Jaunt, Harvest 1762 (Yale, Heinemann, deluxe edition, hardback, no dustcover, slipcase, 1951) – £20. Bargain! Usually double this price or more. This was a great find and in excellent condition.
3. 05 Mar 2024: Boswell’s London Journal 1762-1763 (Yale, Heinemann, hardback, 1951 + dustcover) – £4. I was expecting a 1st edition, but it was a 2nd edition. Seller admitted the description mistake, refunded me and told me to keep it. The price should have warned me…just too cheap.
4. 22 Nov, 2024: Boswell’s London Journal 1762-1763 (Yale Nota Bene, paperback, 2004) – £4.99 (at this point I was just buying up versions)
5. 08 Dec, 2024: Boswell’s London Journal 1762-1763 (Penguin Classics, paperback, 2010) – £6.11 This is my reading and research version. Brilliant!
6. 12 Nov, 2025: Boswell’s London Journal 1762-1763 (Yale, Heinemann, hardback, 1950 + dustcover) – £5.65 (+£8 p&p) Finally, four years after being bitten by the Boswell bug – this is my first edition.