Boswell for the Defence
| James Boswell | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Born |
29 October 1740 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | 19 May 1795 (aged 54) London, England |
| Occupation | Lawyer, diarist, biographer |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Citizenship | Great Britain |
| Alma mater |
University of Edinburgh University of Glasgow Utrecht University |
| Notable works | Life of Johnson |
| Spouse | Margaret Montgomerie |
| Children |
Alexander Boswell (1775–1822) James Boswell (1778–1822) Veronica (1773–1795) Euphemia (1774 – c. 1834) Elizabeth (1780–1814) Charles Boswell (extramarital) (1762–1764) Sally (extramarital) (1767–1768?) |
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (/ˈbɒzˌwɛl, -wəl/; 29 October 1740 – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer and diarist, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for the biography he wrote of one of his contemporaries, the English literary figure Samuel Johnson, which the modern Johnsonian critic Harold Bloom has said is the greatest biography written in the English language.
Boswell's surname has passed into the English language as a term (Boswell, Boswellian, Boswellism) for a constant companion and observer, especially one who records those observations in print. In "A Scandal in Bohemia", Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's character Sherlock Holmes affectionately says of Dr. Watson, who narrates the tales, "I am lost without my Boswell."
Boswell was born in Blair's Land on the east side of Parliament Close behind St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh on 29 October 1740. He was the eldest son of a judge, Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, and his wife Euphemia Erskine. As the eldest son, he was heir to his family's estate of Auchinleck in Ayrshire. Boswell's mother was a strict Calvinist, and he felt that his father was cold to him. As a child, he was delicate and suffered from some type of nervous ailment which appeared to be inherent and would afflict him sporadically all through his life. At the age of five, he was sent to James Mundell's academy, an advanced institution by the standards of the time, where he was instructed in English, Latin, writing and arithmetic. Boswell was unhappy there, and his sickliness began to manifest itself in the physical incidents associated with nightmares and extreme shyness.
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