Overview

The library recorded in this book represents the result of fifty years of collecting the works of British writers of the Age of Samuel Johnson. The Rothschild Library of the Age of Johnson brings together the most comprehensive collection of rare books and autograph works in private hands of the 18th-century literary giant Samuel Johnson, together with extensive collections of the works of the other principal authors of the period long-known as the Age of Johnson- including James Boswell, Edmund Burke, Frances Burney, Oliver Goldsmith, Hester (Thrale) Piozzi, Alexander Pope, and Jonathan Swift. An introduction to each of these authors provides information placing the author in his or her historical and literary context, and the descriptive entries for each of the over 900 individual manuscripts, letters, and rare books records bibliographical information, significant facts, and critical information about the work recorded. The individual entries, when viewed in the aggregate, survey and illuminate the breadth and depth of the literary and intellectual canon of the authors of the Age of Johnson, illuminate their relationships and their works to one another. The text taken as a whole demonstrates why Samuel Johnson, as an individual and as an author, defined the era long named for him. AUTHOR: Loren Rothschild, a former attorney and business executive, is chairman emeritus of the Huntington Library, Art Museum, Botanical Gardens. He has been collecting rare books and manuscripts for 50 years. Rothschild has donated his collections of the works of Sir Richard and Lady Isabel Burton, Evelyn Waugh, and Paul Theroux to the Huntington Library. His collection of the works of William Somerset Maugham is recorded in a bibliographic catalogue published by Heritage Book Shop, Los Angeles, in 2001. Throughout the past fifty years, British and Irish 18th-century literature has remained Rothschild's primary intellectual and collecting interest. Frances Rothschild has shared and encouraged Loren's interest in compiling his manuscript and rare books collections. Frances is a presiding justice of the California Court of Appeal. SELLING POINTS: . The Rothschild Library of the Age of Johnson brings together the most comprehensive collection of rare books and autograph works in private hands of the 18th-century literary giant Samuel Johnson . With extensive collections of the works of the other principal authors of the period long-known as the Age of Johnson- including James Boswell, Edmund Burke, Frances Burney, Oliver Goldsmith, Hester (Thrale) Piozzi, Alexander Pope, and Jonathan Swift. . An introduction to each of these authors provides information placing the author in his or her historical and literary context . Descriptive entries for each of the over 900 individual manuscripts, letters, and rare books 15 colour illustrations

Full Product Details

Author:   Loren Rothschild ,  Jack Lynch ,  Robert DeMaria
Publisher:   Kulturalis
Imprint:   Kulturalis
Weight:   6.530kg
ISBN:  

9781836360155

ISBN 10:   1836360150
Pages:   544
Publication Date:   07 October 2025
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Foreword Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Editorial Policies List of Illustrations Bibliography and Short-Title References Part I: Samuel Johnson Introduction Autograph Letters Autograph Documents and Books Inscribed by and Associated with Johnson Other Printed Works Eighteenth-Century Collected Works Biographical Works and Quotation Books Miscellany of Eighteenth-Century Johnsoniana William Dodd Part II: The Johnsonian School Introduction James Boswell Edmund Burke Frances Burney David Garrick Oliver Goldsmith Hester Lynch Piozzi (Formerly Hester Lynch Thrale) Sir Joshua Reynolds Part III: Johnson’s Nemesis: John Wilkes Introduction Autograph Letters Printed Works: An Essay on Woman and North Britain No. 45 Printed Works: The Middlesex Elections Controversy Other Printed Works by and Relating to Wilkes Part IV: The Age of Johnson Introduction Robert Dodsley Introduction Printed Works Henry Fielding Edward Gibbon Thomas Gray Alexander Pope Samuel Richardson Richard Brinsley Sheridan Christopher Smart Tobias Smollett Laurence Sterne Jonathan Swift Appendix 1: Notable Collectors Index of Entries Index

Reviews

'An education in the history of collecting'-- ""The Johnsonian News Letter"" 'An eye-popping list of bibliophilic treasures, the sorts of rarities most collectors can only dream of acquiring'-- ""The Johnsonian News Letter"" 'On every page we get a sense of the thrill that accompanied the acquisition of a rare and precious item'-- ""The Johnsonian News Letter"" 'One has to go back quite a long way to find a book of this sort that is as valuable to eighteenth-century scholars'-- ""The Johnsonian News Letter"" 'The collection is an extraordinary one, and the catalog will be of interest to Johnsonians as well as book collectors'-- ""The Johnsonian News Letter"" 'The publication is a major event both for Johnsonians and for all bibliophiles with an interest in eighteenth-century British literature'-- ""The Johnsonian News Letter"" 'The [catalog] is so rich that it is difficult even to decide on the highlights'-- ""The Johnsonian News Letter""

Author Information

Loren Rothschild, a former attorney and business executive, is chairman emeritus of the Huntington Library, Art Museum, Botanical Gardens. He has been collecting rare books and manuscripts for 50 years. Rothschild has donated his collections of the works of Sir Richard and Lady Isabel Burton, Evelyn Waugh, and Paul Theroux to the Huntington Library. His collection of the works of William Somerset Maugham is recorded in a bibliographic catalogue published by Heritage Book Shop, Los Angeles, in 2001. Throughout the past fifty years, British and Irish 18th-century literature has remained Rothschild's primary intellectual and collecting interest. Frances Rothschild has shared and encouraged Loren’s interest in compiling his manuscript and rare books collections. Frances is a presiding justice of the California Court of Appeal.  

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