19 “That Dialogue Of Mind, Heart And Voice” 16BOSWELL, James. The Life of Samuel Johnson. London, 1791. Two volumes. Quarto, contemporary full tree calf sympathetically rebacked, custom slipcase. $8500 First edition of “the most famous biography in any language,” handsomely bound. “If there had been no Boswell, Johnson would have been one of the most famous names in English literature; but that he has become a household name… is due to the chance that brought Boswell into his company… The fascination of their dialogue, that dialogue of mind, heart and voice round which Boswell organized his great Life, is that it is not merely between two very different men but between two epochs. In its pages, Romantic Europe speaks to Renaissance Europe, and is answered” (Wain, 229). “Boswell’s Life of Johnson remains the most famous biography in any language, one of Western literature’s most germinal achievements” (DNB). Volume I is second state, with “gve” corrected to “give” on page 135, line 10 (a change made before publication). Scattered foxing to text, light expert cleaning to frontispiece and title page of Volume I only. Expert restoration to handsome tree calf boards. First Edition Of William Morris’ Odyssey, In A Sumptuous Bayntun-Riviere Binding 17MORRIS, William. The Odyssey of Homer Done Into English Verse. London, 1887. Two volumes. Small quarto, modern full navy morocco gilt, custom slipcase. $9500 First edition of Morris’ esteemed translation, in a stunning binding with front board portrait onlays by Bayntun-Riviere. Morris’ son-in-law vividly described Morris in his study working on this project: “He would be standing at an easel or sitting with a sketchbook in front of him, charcoal, brush or pencil in hand, and all the while would be grumbling Homer’s Greek under his breath… He would prowl about the room, filling and lighting his pipe, halting to add a touch or two at one or other easel, still grumbling, go to his writing-table, snatch up his pen and write furiously for a while—20, 50 and 100 or more lines… There was something well-nigh terrifying to a youthful onlooker in the deliberate ease with which he interchanged so many forms of creative work, taking up each one exactly at the point at which he had laid it aside and never halting to recapture the thread of his thought” (Thompson, 700). Fine condition.
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