James Boswell (1740–1795) is best known for his Life of Samuel Johnson and for his indiscreet private journals. He also owned several libraries during his lifetime, including personal city collections in Edinburgh and London, and a country-house collection in the rural mansion of Auchinleck in Ayrshire. His talk will examine how, during the ‘Long Eighteenth Century’, private collections of books like Boswell’s were seen by their owners not only as expressions to the community of their family’s permanence and status, but also as articulations of individual owners’ tastes and literary aspirations, and as inspirations for their own writings. Since Boswell is a well-known personage, and his library is unusually well-documented through several sources, a look at his library keys us into broader themes such as what books meant during the so-called ‘Age of Enlightenment’.
The Rare Book & Manuscript Library is in 346 Main Library, 1408 W. Gregory Drive., Urbana, IL 61801 MC-586; for more information, call 217-333-3777.
Thanks to Dennis Sears of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library for this information item.
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