first edition
1785 · London
by Boswell, James.
Sm. London: Henry Baldwin for Charles Dilly, 1785. Sm. 8vo, iii-vii (lacks half-title), [1], 524, [1]pp. Modern full diaper calf panelled in gilt, backstrip stamped and lettered in gilt with 4 raised bands, a lovely retrospective binding by Dusel. § First edition, mixed issue; E3, E4 and M4 are cancels, as usual; leaves I5, Q7 and U6 are in Pottle's second state. We first sold this copy in 2005 after Dusel rebound it. It makes a very attractive "gift" copy. "Though the Life is a vaster and richer piece of work, no one will maintain that it displays Boswell's unique gift for biography better than the Tour. Indeed, most lovers of Boswell will agree that the Tour as a whole, is more consistently good than the Life; that is, that nowhere in the Life could one find so many consecutive first-class pages as those that compose this book" (Pottle 57). Rothschild 456.
(Inventory #: 122700)