Genius Fan

Yes, this site is about the Eighteenth century, but it’s also about book collecting…that is, books relevant to the, you guessed it, Eighteenth century. And it is to this hallowed conjunction of interests that I now turn my keyboard. On the dining room table where I write sits a package containing a book which was printed in the Eighteenth century.

A book printed in the Eighteenth century

This is a first for me. It’s very exciting. And for a man who’s been known since infancy for having absolutely zero capacity for delayed gratification, to leave the package on the table unopened, and so close within reach…well, that’s miraculous. So, what’s the reason for not opening? It’s because in about three days time I expect to take possession of a second book, similarly dating from the Eighteenth century, and the two are forever connected by authors and by topic.

A 1785 edition of Boswell’s Tour to the Hebrides

The parcel next to me contains a 1785 edition of James Boswell’s Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D, and the package I expect to arrive on Monday is a 1775 edition of Samuel Johnson’s A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland. For those of you that don’t know: In 1773 Boswell and Johnson, friends since they first met in spring 1763, made a tour together of Scotland and the western islands. Johnson’s account came out just over a year since his return, while Boswell dutifully waited until Johnson’s death (in 1784) to publish his.

An extra dimension from a 240-year-old book

I’ve been reading about this pair, and their travels, since 2021. It’s one thing to read biographies and accounts and books and essays about the trip. That’s enjoyable. But I’m anticipating something extra-sensory when I open both parcels at the same time on Monday. That’s why I’m delaying opening this first package. These fellows are forever connected through history and the volumes I’ve bought, from their very years, reflect that. Any thrill to be had in handling and leafing through these books I want to experience. I dare say I’ll write and sketch about it here. Jolly good.

Notes
A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, Samuel Johnson (1775)
Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D, James Boswell (1785)