The Life of Samuel Johnson ... Including a Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides. With Additions and Notes, by J.W. Croker; Volume 3

This volume is part of the influential nineteenth-century edition of James Boswell’s biography of Samuel Johnson, edited by John Wilson Croker. First published in 1831, Croker’s edition was a landmark in literary scholarship, notable for its extensive footnotes and incorporation of additional journals and correspondence that sought to contextualize Johnson’s life within the social and political landscape of the eighteenth century.

The editorial style adopted by Croker was famously polarizing, drawing sharp criticism from contemporaries like Thomas Babington Macaulay for its perceived intrusiveness and heavy-handed annotations. Despite these debates, the edition remained a standard reference for decades, valued by readers for its comprehensive attempt to document every detail of Johnson’s circle. The volume reflects the Victorian appetite for encyclopedic biographical curation, balancing Boswell’s original text with the rigorous, if debated, academic efforts of the era.