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PUBLISHERS' NOTE
The story of the manuscripts of James Boswell is one of the most
dramatic among all the tales of book and manuscript collecting, and the
manuscripts themselves are among the most valuable literary properties
ever discovered. For more than a century it was believed by scholars
that all Boswell's papers had been destroyed shortly after his death. A
few years ago, however, it became known that there existed in Malahide
Castle a large collection which had come down through the years by
inheritance to Lord Talbot de Malahide, Boswell's great-great-grandson.
In 1927 Lord Talbot, who had previously declined to entertain any
suggestion of releasing the papers, agreed to sell the property,
including the publishing rights. The entire collection was acquired by
Lt.-Golonel Ralph H. Isham, who proceeded at once to arrange for
printing it privately in a limited edition.
The editing of the manuscripts was entrusted to Mr. Geoffrey Scott, and
after his death to Professor Frederick Pottle of Yale University, who is
everywhere recognized as a leading authority on the period of Johnson
and Boswell. The task of deciphering, arranging, and annotating the huge
collection, comprising more than a million words, proved to be the work
of years, and its progress has been followed with profound interest by
scholars and the public. The eighteen volumes of the limited edition
have appeared at irregular intervals, beginning in 1928; the nineteenth
and final volume, containing the index, is now in preparation.
When Colonel Isham acquired the Malahide collection, it was assumed that
it contained all of Boswell's manuscripts that had been preserved. In
addition to a large number of very important letters by and to Boswell,
it included most of his journal, which he had kept intermittently for 37
years. But in spite of the richness of the material thus made available
to the world for the first time, it was a disappointment to discover
that there were some serious gaps in the journal. A few years later,
when the publication was already well under way, another extraordinary
treasure-trove came to light at Malahide Castle, when through a happy
accident an old croquet-box in an unused cupboard was found to contain
another large batch of Boswell papers. First in importance among the
documents—all of which are invaluable to students of the period—was the
original manuscript of the Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides.
Colonel Isham was able to acquire this second lot of manuscripts also,
and he arranged for the expansion of his privately printed edition to
include much of the new material. But the work had already proceeded
past the point at which the Hebridean Journal belonged chronologically;
in any event its bulk and the added expense would have increased the set
too far beyond the limits originally contemplated and promised to the
subscribers.
It is now known also that Sir William Forbes, Boswell's executor,
carried off a considerable portion of his friend's papers, and died
without restoring them to the heir. These papers, of whose existence the
public has only recently been informed, are now in the custody of a
Judicial Factor appointed by the Court of Session of Scotland, and will
remain inaccessible until their ownership has been determined.
The present publishers expect to issue, from time to time, additional
volumes containing more of the Boswell papers, but they determined that
the first book should be the hitherto unpublished Journal of a Tour to
the Hebrides. It is their privilege thus to make available one of the
great books of English literature in its original form, which, as it
here appears, differs materially from the previously printed text.
After more than 150 years, the Journal as Boswell wrote it is published.
Throughout the years of preparation the English and American publishers
have worked closely together and have had the invaluable help of both
Colonel Isham and Professor Pottle. The first edition is issued jointly
by the English and American publishers in a large-paper limited edition;
the first trade editions are issued separately by the publishers in
their respective countries on the same day.
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