<ul> <li>This edition includes the following editor&#39;s analysis: <i>&quot;The Life of Samuel Johnson,&rdquo; an ode to friendship and admiration by James Boswell</i></li></ul><br />First published in 1791, &ldquo;The Life of Samuel Johnson&rdquo; is a biography of English writer Samuel Johnson written by his friend and admirer James Boswell. Boswell&rsquo;s biography is considered by many scholars to be one of the finest pieces of biographical writing in the English language.<br />Boswell was acquainted with Samuel Johnson during his life but did not publish the work until seven years after Johnson&rsquo;s death. The work was from the beginning a critical and popular success and represents a landmark in the development of the modern genre of biography.<br />Later research has shown that Boswell took liberties with some of Johnson&rsquo;s quotations and censored important incidents from his biography. However, the level of detail included in the work makes it a valuable resource on Samuel Johnson and the eighteenth century.