Cover of Boswell's Correspondence with the Honourable Andrew Erskine, and His Journal of a Tour to Corsica

Boswell's Correspondence with the Honourable Andrew Erskine, and His Journal of a Tour to Corsica

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  • 45 chapters
  • Reading level: 8th & 9th grade

"Boswell's Correspondence with the Honourable Andrew Erskine and His Journal of a Tour to Corsica," edited by George Birkbeck Hill, is a historical account likely written in the late 19th century. The work provides an intimate insight into the correspondence between James Boswell, a notable biographer and journalist, and his friend Andrew Erskine, along with Boswell's own reflections on his travels in Corsica. The correspondence illuminates the personalities and literary ambitions of both men while the journal depicts Boswell's adventurous spirit during a turbulent time in Corsican history. The opening of the work sets the stage by showcasing the preface that provides context for the letters exchanged between Boswell and Erskine. It highlights the ambitions and eccentricities of Boswell, who, at a young age, eagerly engages in expressive and humorous exchanges with Erskine, touching on various aspects of life, love, and literature. The correspondence teems with playful banter that reflects their friendship, while the journal promises lively descriptions of Corsica's landscape and culture, juxtaposed against the socio-political backdrop of the island. This blend of personal correspondence and travel writing offers readers a unique glimpse into the world of two 18th-century literary figures.

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  • Corsica (France) · Description and travel
  • Boswell, James, 1740-1795 · Travel · France · Corsica
  • Boswell, James, 1740-1795 · Correspondence
  • Authors, Scottish · 18th century · Correspondence
  • Biographers · Great Britain · Correspondence

Read the opening

Letter I: Auchinleck, Aug. 25, 1761

Dear ERSKINE,—No ceremony, I beseech you. Give me your hand. How is my honest Captain Andrew? How goes it with the elegant gentle Lady A——? the lovely sighing Lady J——? and how, O how does that glorious luminary Lady B—— do? You see I retain my usual volatility. The Boswells, you know, came over from Normandy, with William the Conqueror, and some of us possess the spirit of our ancestors the French. I do for one. A pleasant spirit it is. Vive la Bagatelle, is the maxim. A light heart may bid defiance to fortune. And yet, Erskine, I must tell you, that I have been a little pensive of late, amorously pensive, and disposed to read Shenstone's Pastoral on Absence, the tenderness and simplicity of which I greatly admire. A man who is in love is like a man who has got the tooth-ache, he feels most acute pain while nobody pities him. In that situation am I at present: but well do I know that I will not be long so. So much for inconstancy. As this is my first epistle to you, it cannot in decency be a long one. Pray write to me soon. Your letters, I prophecy, will entertain me not a little; and will besides be extremely serviceable in many important respects. They will supply me with oil to my lamps, grease to my wheels, and blacking to my shoes. They will furnish me with strings to my fiddle, lashes to my whip, lining to my breeches, and buttons to my coat. They will make charming spurs, excellent knee buckles, and inimitable watch-keys. In short, while they last I shall neither want breakfast, dinner, nor supper. I shall keep a couple of horses, and I shall sleep upon a bed of down. I shall be in France this year, and in Spain the next; with many other particulars too tedious to mention. You may take me in a metaphorical sense; but I would rather choose to be understood literally.

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Contents

Show all 45 chapters
  1. Front Matter
  2. Letter I: Auchinleck, Aug. 25, 1761
  3. Letter II: Kelly, Sept. 11, 1761
  4. Letter III: Auchinleck, Sept. 14, 1761
  5. Letter IV: Auchinleck, Oct. 10, 1761
  6. Letter V: Kelly, Nov. 1, 1761
  7. Letter VI: Edinburgh, Nov. 17, 1761
  8. Letter VII: New-Tarbat, Nov. 23, 1761
  9. Letter VIII: Edinburgh, Dec. 2, 1761
  10. Letter IX: New-Tarbat, Dec. 3, 1761
  11. Letter X: Edinburgh, Dec. 8, 1761
  12. Letter XI.[28]
  13. Letter XII: Edinburgh, Saturday, Dec. 14, 1761
  14. Letter XIII: Edinburgh, Dec. 17, 1761
  15. Letter XIV: New-Tarbat, Dec. 16, 1761
  16. Letter XV: New-Tarbat, Jan. 10, 1762
  17. Letter XVI: Edinburgh, Jan. 11, 1762
  18. Letter XVII: New-Tarbat, Jan. 20, 1762
  19. Letter XVIII: Edinburgh, Jan. 22, 1762
  20. Letter XIX: Morpeth, Feb. 7th, 1762
  21. Letter XX: Morpeth, Feb. 8, 1762
  22. Letter XXI: Edinburgh, Feb. 16, 1762
  23. Letter XXII: Morpeth, March 2, 1762
  24. Letter XXIII: Edinburgh, March 9, 1762
  25. Letter XXIV: New-Tarbat, April 15, 1762
  26. Letter XXV: Auchinleck, April 22, 1762
  27. Letter XXVI: New-Tarbat, May 1, 1762
  28. Letter XXVII: Auchinleck, May 4, 1762
  29. Letter XXVIII: Auchinleck, May 8, 1762
  30. Letter XXIX: New-Tarbat, May 13, 1762
  31. Letter XXX: New-Tarbat, May 25, 1762
  32. Letter XXXI: Auchinleck, June 1, 1762
  33. Letter XXXII: New-Tarbat, June 5, 1762
  34. Letter XXXIII: Auchinleck, June 9, 1762
  35. Letter XXXIV: New-Tarbat, June 14, 1762
  36. Letter XXXV: Edinburgh, June 19, 1762
  37. Letter XXXVI: Kelly, July 5, 1762
  38. Letter XXXVII: Kelly, July 6, 1762
  39. Letter XXXVIII: Kelly, July 7, 1762
  40. Letter XXXIX: Kames, October 19, 1762
  41. Letter XL: Kelly, October 28, 1762
  42. Letter XLI: Parliament-Close, Nov. 10, 1762
  43. Letter XLII: London, Nov. 20, 1762
  44. Introduction
  45. Preface

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About this edition

This free edition of Boswell's Correspondence with the Honourable Andrew Erskine, and His Journal of a Tour to Corsica by James Boswell comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #20263, released 2007-01-04. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Biographies, Essays, Letters & Speeches, Travel Writing, British Literature.

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