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

Before his work on Samuel Johnson became his best known writing, James Boswell drew attention through his interest in Corsica and its leader, Pascal Paoli. This volume brings together his correspondence with Andrew Erskine and the journal of his visit to the island. George Birkbeck Hill supplies a preface, introduction and notes, placing these early writings in the setting of Boswell's later reputation and the British response to Corsican efforts for independence.

Boswell explains that he wanted to go beyond the usual European tour and see a community struggling to establish its freedom. His account begins with that choice and a visit to Rousseau in Switzerland. Alongside the travel narrative, his remarks on criticism, religious belief and the success of his book reveal a writer eager for recognition. Readers interested in personal letters and eighteenth-century travel can find both public affairs and an author's candid account of his ambitions here.