Correspondence

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research2 #4,
from jgwhite, Tue Apr 12 14:19:15 1994
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TITLE: "Correspondence"

Boswell's Correspondence outlines the friendship Boswell maintained with John Johnston of Grange. The book is a collection of letters between these two [not very] prominent figures. The conclusion I have found in reading many of these letters is that Boswell is complex and elusive. His Journal shows him to be an imaginary fellow, able to put on any mask at any given time, when the opportunity presents itself. Now, Boswell is shown to have a true existence. A solid and loving friendship with an individual whom he shared something very much in common . . . law. Boswell's friendship is with Johnston is shown to be forthright and true. He does not put on any masks, nor does he need to:

My Dear Johnston: This letter is short but precious for it is written in the Holy Church of Loretto where I have seen the immense riches of our Lady and the Holy House itself where the blessed Virgin Mary lived which house was transported hither from Nazareth by Angels. I am in a most pleasing solemn frame and upon my soul I cannot refuse some devotion to this miraculous Habitation, without giving up my faith in human testimony. Such is the cloud of evidences for this History of the Holy House.

The previous is a letter from Boswell to Johnston talking about his trip to Loretto in Italy. The only comment I have is in reference to Boswell's manner of writing. He seems to me like an excited little child, bursting, as if he cannot wait to get his thoughts down on paper. He is writing inside of the church, therefore he makes his letter "short but precious."

This side of Boswell seems that it can only be unleashed by the influences of good friend. Samuel Johnson and Boswell were friends, but I believe that that was more psychological, that being, Boswell's view of the relationship. The Tour of the Hebrides turned out to be a psychological examination of Johnson, and Boswell's Life of Johnson is self-explanatory. This is different. Correspondence offers a different set of rules to follow when discussing the nature of Boswell's writing and course of life. It is easy to pin down a set of norms on anyone, but Correspondence makes one reconsider the absolutes.

Thoughts on eighteenth-century authorship, chiefly concerned with Samuel Johnson
Two Views on Boswell
Authors are like Bakers
Correspondence
Thoughts on eighteenth-century authorship, chiefly concerned with Mary
Miscellaneous Research
Introduction