Boswell : James (1740-95), Scottish biographer for his Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.
... literature and in all other matters brought up by his circle of eminent friends — Reynolds the painter, Burke the politician-orator, Sheridan the playwright, Garrick the actor, Goldsmith the poet, Boswell the future immortal writer of his friend's biography and the biggest fool of the company with the exception of Goldsmith who, Garrick reported, Wrote like an Angel and talked like poor Poll. ... never let go: it was said of him that if he missed you with the fire of his pistol he would knock you down with the butt-end of it. And much of his argumentation was brought on by the questions of Boswell who at times did not refrain from even asking preposterous things like: "Sir, what would you do if you were locked up in the Tower of London with a baby three-months old?" Johnson would grow a trifle ...
... s. Friendship could be allied with reticence and taciturnity — a private affair, pure and holy, not open to discussion, nor amenable to public exhibition. But no one law is valid for all. Boswell loved Johnson "on this side idolatry"; yet he was, in a manner of speaking, a "spy' — taking notes, making calculations, conducting Sherlock- Holmesian enquiries, prodding his hero at well-regulated ...
... The Thinking Corner Uttering the Unutterable Speaking of a "metaphysical" poet, Dr. Johnson laid down the law to goggling and gaping Boswell: "If Mr. X has experienced the Unutterable, Mr. X will be well advised not to try and utter it." The advice, I am afraid, is not the Doctor's wit or sanity at its best. It is a superficially brilliant play on words, taking ...
... in Switzerland, where he lived the rest of his life, apart from trips to France. He had his own chateau, Les Delices, outside Geneva, and later at nearby Ferney, in France. Anybody of note, from Boswell to Casanova, wanted to visit the place; Voltaire's conversations with visitors were recorded and published and he was flattered by kings and nobility. Voltaire died in Paris on May 30, 1778, ...
... the essential defect which vitiates the theory of the man and his milieu. The man in Dr Johnson expressed himself in his conversation and therefore his own works are far less important to us than Boswell's record of his daily talk; the man in Byron expresses himself in his letters as well as his poetry and both have therefore to be read. It is only the most sensational and therefore the lowest natures ...
... clear from the 2. In the Press. - Editors Page 360 arguments and counter-arguments that we read in the works that it is dangerous to match wits with K.D. Sethna. Boswell’s remark (about Dr Johnson may be true of him if modified a little to show a multiple resource. He can use his pistol not only to fire but also to knock you down with the butt-end of it. ...
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