The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-06
A Now Edition OF no.w,m,

Tho successive editions OF BOs,rsll's Life Of
johnson have hitherto gone on Increasing In
magnitude until they hnvc become available
only as BOOKS OF reference. As we'll pick up so
many cyclopaedias as try to hold the volumes In
the hand. II was time that n reaction should
set In and that this immortal fund of entertain
ment should be made accessible In IA more con-
venient form. This Mr.. AUGUSTINE BItRrLL,
the well.known author of "Obitcr Dicta," has
undertaken To do In the six little volumes, &C.
curately and beautifully printed. which have
been published in London by Archibald Con-
stable & Co., and nre here procurable from the
Macmillans. The present editor has freed the
original biography from the vast over
lying mass of ancillary matter brought
together In the last sixty years by such
editors as Croker. Napier. and Birkbeck
Hill. The foot notes reproduced are al
most exclusively confined to those sup
piled by Boswell himself and by Edmund Ma
lone. Mr.. B!rreil's additions nro few and far
between. He had, he tells us, made many notes.
but, on reflection, struck most OF them out, feel.
ing himself convinced not of their worthless
ness, but OF their unimportance. The rigorous
process OF exclusion which he has carried out
was rompted by a desire to aid the English
speaking race to enter moro ensily and fully on
Its great Inheritance OF literature. 1t is true, as
Mr.. BlrTell says, that tho number OF persons
who have never read Boswells life OF johnson.
and who yet are capable Of enjoying 1t to the
t'ps Oh tneir nhRers, Is enormous and increases
se"''s: "set ho'u OF thcse people, TO thrust
boswell in'o 'heir hands' TO obtrude him upon
'"en "o'ee' "no mus 10 capture their inteiii-
genes III engage their interest, Is the work or
II h'se''narS Oh letters. VINO does not need to
cucumber himself with the commentators, but
only 10 no III that ne can 10 circulate the origi-
nal text In the most portable and attractive
form. Besides, after all, the book itself is
.he lh'ne' Leave boswell alone TO tell his own
"ie III ni"No lie own impression. ms once
u'"e' 'he eoin"e"tators can march In through
u oie~'" n'e"e' h"s "aue' Literature was
mean' 10 give pressure 10 drug sorrow ana
o''ert thouRht' ana OUTSIDE OF the hnest exam
pies OF poetry ard prose fiction. no book ever
written Is more certain TO attain these ends
tnah bos"eiis Lie OF Johnson Certainly,
IN tne "hoie range OF Lnelish literature. there
Is no BOOK more richly endowed with those
ouaiit'es OF interest," charm hnmor, and life
wh'ch go 10 make up enjoyment Mr.. Birrell
does not attempt to enumerate, one by one. the
auh'Fao'e features OF a biography which II has
become superhuous' II not impertinent. to
praise. lie does, however. direct attention to
tho generous scale OF the canvas and
TO the perfection OF the method. Bos-
Wells Lie is a big book. that is to
say. q long book, a crowded gallery. a
nav hboASos
chance references. waits. and strains Of charac-
ter. Carlyle well understood the fascination Of
large canvases. and 1t is certain that no short
Story can SO stir the Imagination or so penetrate
US with the stir or existence and the music of
humanity. Wien. again. one considers Boswell's
method. one pe-ceives the absurdity OF the de-
traction to which he was subjected By Macau-
lay. lhere Is no doubt that Boswelfs enormous
success depended almost as much upon his own
| era y a c nINnn III a t- ia x-Ar
TO write a great book, and to prove himself a
greater portrait painter than Sir Joshua Rey-
nolds himself. II Is pointed out by Mr.. Birrell
that the dedication and the first pages of the
biography proved conclusively the confidence
as well as the determination with which he ap-
preached his task.
What was the method? In the dedication
Boswell says that in his tour to the Hebrides
he had been almost undoubtedly open
in his communications his desire being to
display the wonderful fertility and readi-
ness Of Johnson's wit" The advertisement
to the first edition thus concludes: Nor
will / suppress my satisfaction in the con-
seriousness that. by recording so considera-
BILE a portion OF the wisdom and wit OF the
brightest ornament OF the eighteenth century,
i have largely provided for the instruction and
entertainment OF mankind Entertainment
was. indeed. an aim Of which this unparalleled
bioGrapher mover lost sight, In the first eleven
pages OF the Life. Boswelrs theory OF biography
is clearly set forth. Its. first OF all, based upon
friendship: Il had the honor and happiness of
enjoying his friendship for upward of twenty
years" 1t has been objected that, although
Boswell knew johnson for the last twenty years
of the latter's life, he was. by no means, an habit
ual associate of his. and long months would 20
by without their ever meeting. Whether this
was n drawback Mr.. Birrell doubts. reminding
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