“AN AMAZING LITERARY TOUR DE FORCE”: JOHNSON’S DEBATES IN PARLIAMENT, 1787

JOHNSON, Samuel. Debates in Parliament. London: Printed for John Stockdale, 1787. Two volumes. Octavo, period-style three-quarter speckled calf gilt, brown morocco spine labels, marbled boards.

First edition in book form of Johnson’s satirical account of parliamentary politics, “his first major literary project,” beautifully bound.

Johnson’s Debates in Parliament “form his first major literary project, although Johnson obviously did not undertake that task, which ran from November 1740 to February 1743, with a final collection in mind” (Korshin, 51). Coverage of Parliament regularly appeared in such journals as the Gentleman’s Magazine; however, in 1738 the government moved to suppress such articles. Edward Cave, publisher of the Gentleman’s Magazine, “came up with a bold plan to satisfy [the reading public’s] curiosity. Inventing a fifth voyage of Gulliver’s Travels, for Captain Gulliver’s grandson, Cave published monthly accounts of the proceedings, transparently disguised as ‘debates in the senate of Lilliput.’ He used obvious distortions of the politicians’ names: ‘Walelop’ for Walpole, ‘Ptit’ for William Pitt. In 1741, the year before Walpole fell from power, Johnson took over the job of reporting… During the next three years, while still living from hand to mouth, he secretly wrote 54 monthly installments, totaling nearly half a million words… To reduce the risk of arrest, no debates were published while Parliament was in session. Johnson almost never attended Parliament in person, and created rather than reported the speeches… It was an amazing literary tour de force… He portrayed the speakers with impressive skill while managing to express his own ideas on liberty, morality and the virtues and limitations of representative government” (Meyers, 142-44). “Johnson even heard [the speeches] he had written compared to the classical orators Demosthenes and Cicero by those who did not realize that they were his” (Folkenflik, 108). Published April 24, 1787 as Volumes XII and XIII of Hawkins’ edition of Johnson’s Works, the Debates were also issued separately. These copies without Works title pages. Volume II also without leaf A3, “List of Fictitious Characters” and advertisement pages [xix]-[xx]. Fleeman 87.3W/1.2/1a. Courtney & Smith, 162; Chapman & Hazen, 164. Occasional pencil markings.

Scattered light foxing, extremely good condition.