Boswell and the Press : Essays on the Ephemeral Writing of James Boswell

__Boswell and the Press__ is the first sustained examination of James Boswell’s ephemeral writings—his journalism, pamphlets, and broadsides—which, taken together, prove worthy of critical study. These new essays enhance our comprehension of Boswell’s interests and proclivities as an author and refine our understanding of how the print environment in which he worked influenced what he wrote and how he wrote it. Contributors further illuminate a print culture in the throes of transformation, providing useful fodder for historians of journalism and publishing in eighteenth- century Britain, while offering up rich new material for seasoned Boswell scholars. "For two centuries, scholars have considered the ephemeral writing of James Boswell-his periodical writing, his pamphlets, and his broadsides--unworthy of serious critical attention because it is too topical, too superficial, or too trivial to advance our study of Boswell or his literary career. Boswell and the Press challenges that assessment. The essays collected in this volume demonstrate that a study of his ephemeral writing enhances our comprehension of his interests, capabilities, and proclivities as an author, and refines our understanding of how the print environment in which he worked influenced what he wrote and how he wrote it. This collection both contextualizes Boswell's ephemeral writing in terms of the publishing industry of his day and considers individual works that have received little critical attention or, as in works like The Hypochodriack, that have received inadequate attention. The essays gathered here demonstrate that a study of Boswell's ephemeral writing can provide a fuller, more nuanced understanding of Boswell the author and his literary career. This collection will also be of interest to scholars studying eighteenth-century British print culture and historians of periodical publishing"-- Provided by publisher Boswell and the Press: Essays on the Ephemeral Writing of James Boswell is the first sustained examination of James Boswell's ephemeral writing, his contributions to periodicals, his pamphlets, and his broadsides. The essays collected here enhance our comprehension of his interests, capabilities, and proclivities as an author and refine our understanding of how the print environment in which he worked influenced what he wrote and how he wrote it. This book will also be of interest to historians of journalism and the publishing industry of eighteenth-century Britain. For two centuries, scholars have considered the ephemeral writing of James Boswell - his periodical writing, his pamphlets, and his broadsides - unworthy of serious critical attention because it is too topical, too superficial, or too trivial to advance our study of Boswell or his literary career. This volume challenges that assessment.