The Life of Samuel Johnson

Scottish biographer, lawyer, and ninth Laird of Auchinleck James Boswell was born in Edinburgh. His biography of his friend and more senior colleague, the English author Samuel Johnson, is best known and is regarded as the best biography ever written in the English language. Boswell began his studies at the University of Edinburgh's arts program when he was thirteen years old which he attended from 1753 to 1758. Though he experienced a significant depression halfway but fully recovered. He was transferred to the University of Glasgow to complete his studies after turning nineteen, where he heard lectures by Adam Smith. Boswell made the decision to become a Catholic monk while he was still in Glasgow. In February 1766, Boswell traveled back to London with Rousseau's lover, with whom he briefly had an affair while on the road. On November 25, 1769, Boswell wed his cousin Margaret Montgomerie. Boswell urged the Home Secretary to assist four Botany Bay escapees, including Mary Bryant, in obtaining royal pardons in 1792. Due to a venereal condition and years of heavy drinking, his health started to deteriorate during this period. On May 19, 1795, Boswell passed away in London. His body was laid to rest in the crypt of the Boswell family mausoleum in Ayrshire.