Dust jacket notes: "In 1776 Henry Thrale presented his wife Hester with six, beautifully blank, quarto volumes, her Thraliana. With the same wit and gaiety that had made her the most successful literary hostess of the day, Mrs Thrale took to recording in her journal those indispensable impressions of her devoted friend, Samuel Johnson. From his infamous views on the Scots and French to the state of American independence, from improvisations at the opera to experiments over a glass retort - Mrs Thrale scribbled down all the bon mots, gossip and intimacies of the great moralist, often as he sat beside her. Later, as Mrs Piozzi, Hester rewrote some of these passages for her famous memorial, Anecdotes of Dr Johnson: but in retrospect she sacrificed not only some of her finest revelations, but also much spontaneity, wickedness, and even accuracy. Published to commemorate the two-hundreth anniversary of Johnson's death, and exquisitely illustrated, these recollections are now selected for the first time from the original Thraliana - with all their vivacity and exuberance restored."
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- PublisherRH Canada UK Dist
- Publication date1987
- ISBN 10 070112833X
- ISBN 13 9780701128333
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages136
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