In 1974, the Limited Editions Club published a distinguished edition of James Boswell’s classic travel narrative, The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D., presenting the work in a finely crafted volume that honors both Boswell’s text and its historical context . This edition follows the text of the third edition published in 1786, ensuring scholarly accuracy while making the work accessible to modern readers .
What makes this edition particularly remarkable is its inclusion of marginal comments and markings reproduced from a copy of the second edition annotated by Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi, a close friend of Johnson and important literary figure in her own right . These annotations offer readers intimate glimpses into contemporary responses to Boswell’s account of the journey through the Scottish Highlands and Western Isles undertaken with Johnson in 1773.
The volume is illustrated with reproductions of contemporary prints by Thomas Rowlandson, the celebrated English caricaturist and artist . These illustrations have been reproduced from the original engravings Rowlandson created for his two-volume portfolio entitled The Picturesque Beauties of Boswell, published in 1786, the same year as the third edition of the text .
The typographic pattern follows the format devised by Oliver Simon for the Club’s edition of The Life of Samuel Johnson, creating a visual harmony between Boswell’s two great works . Printed at the Sign of the Stone Book in Bloomfield, Connecticut, the edition was limited to two thousand copies . The text is printed in linotype Baskerville on Curtis paper, with the plates printed by Holyoke Lithograph Company . The binding features quarter gilt-stamped red morocco with marbled boards and maps on the endpapers, housed in a matching slipcase as issued .
