The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, with Samuel Johnson, LL.D.

1785. Second edition, revised and corrected. xx, [i], 534pp. plus 1 page advertising Boswell's 'Life of Samuel Johnson'. In 1773, James Boswell enticed his English friend Samuel Johnson to accompany him on a tour through the highlands and western islands of Scotland. Johnson was then in his mid sixties and well known for his literary works and his Dictionary. The two travellers set out from Edinburgh and skirted the eastern and northeastern coasts of Scotland, passing through St Andrews, Aberdeen and Inverness. They then passed into the highlands and spent several weeks on various islands in the Hebrides, including Skye, Coll, and Mull. After a visit to Boswell's estate at Auchinleck, the travellers returned to Edinburgh. Samuel Johnson published his 'Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland' in 1775, and, after Johnson's death in 1784, Boswell published his 'Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides'. This work is based on a diary Boswell had kept during the 1773 tour and provides detailed descriptions of where he and Johnson had gone and what Johnson had said. The book is bound in contemporary half leather over marbled paper covered boards and gold titling on a leather label on the spine. The case of the book is in good to very good condition and reflects its age with noticeable shelf wear and some soiling to the boards and some loss to the paper on the edges of the boards. The corners are bumped with damage and some loss to the leather around the corner tips. There is partial loss to the leather on the top 1 1/2" and bottom 3/4" of the spine and there is a crack in the leather that runs down the length of the spine. The contents are in better condition being tight and clean apart from a few small marks and some scattered but mostly light foxing. A name has been written on the top edge of the title-page and the top 1/2" of the half-title page has been cut off. The front free endpaper has a brief inscription and a name is written on the front fixed endpaper.…