The Letters of Samuel Johnson: Volume III: 1777-1781 - Hardcover

`sumptuously well-edited collection' Jonathan Keates, The Independent

'edited by Bruce Redford, are an indispensable complement, without which the rest loses much of its value - one does not see Johnson plain. They shed new light on him from every direction ... this is a scholarly edition in all its splendour, prepared with infinite pains and a daunting erudition ... the books themselves are solid, elegant, eminently legible, a great credit to their printer. I do not think I have ever reviewed any book with greater pleasure.' Patrick O'Brian, Daily Telegraph

'The new edition of Johnson's Letters is clear-headed and rational. New letters have been found, including six letters to the novelist and critic Charlotte Lennox.'London Review of Books

'superbly edited'Alec Guinness, The Sunday Times

'The publishing event of the year ... was the arrival of the first three (of five) volumes ... the first proper, modern edition of the great man's letters to a wide range of friends ... wonderful books.'Andrew Marr, The Independent Weekend

'the big event of 1992, the first three volumes of Dr Johnson's Letters, edited by Bruce Redford ... They are handsome, scholarly and radical enough to give a fresh view.'Judge Stephen Tumim, Sunday Express

`... splendidly produced, and offers a rare chance to glimpse the great man wihout benefit of Boswell.'Lorna Sage, Observer 29 Nov 92

'These, the first three volumes of five, have been edited with skill, acumen, and learning. Handsome in design, consistent and economical in procedures, respectful.'The New Criterion, September 1992

'three splendid volumes ... All this material is clearly indispensable for Johnson scholars. Much more importantly though, any reader of the sequence of these letters will soon gain a growing intimacy with Johnson the man. Professor Redford has put not only the Johnsonian specialist but any reader with an interest in Johnson very much in his debt. It is difficult finally to avoid superlatives about the production quality of these volumes, which are beautifully typeset on excellent paper and (rare praise indeed) most reasonably priced.'Tom Woodman, University of Reading, British Journal for Eighteenth Century Studies, Vol. 17, Part 1, Spring 1994

"The Letters of Samuel Johnson" contains 52 previously unknown letters or parts of letters which have come to light since R.W. Chapman's work on the subject, published in 1952. For the first time, substantive deletions are recorded, yielding intimate knowledge of Johnson's stylistic procedures, mental habits and chains of association. Furthermore, detailed ownership credits document the current disposition of the manuscripts, hundreds of which have changed hands during the last four decades. Finally, the annotation of the letters incorporates the many significant discoveries of post-war Johnsonian scholarship, as well as decoding references that had resisted explanation before.