The first edition of _Boswell's Johnson_ appeared in 1791 and
made a great hit. There was a call for a second edition in
1794 and Boswell was preparing a third edition in 1795 when
he died. This uncompleted third edition was issued by Edward
Malone in 1799, who also superintended the issue of the
fourth, fifth and sixth editions. Malone furnished many notes
and he also received the assistance of Dr. Charles Burney,
father of the author of _Evelina_, and others who knew both
Boswell and Johnson. An edition in 1822 was issued by the
Chalmers, who contributed much information of value. All
these materials with much new matter went into the edition of
John Wilson Croker in 1831. Croker was cordially hated by
Macaulay and the result was the bitter criticism of Croker's
edition of Boswell's great work that is now included among
the famous essays of Macaulay. Bohn brought out Croker's
edition in ten volumes in 1859, and it has been reproduced in
this country by the John W. Lovell Company in four volumes.
Carlyle's _Essay on Boswell's Johnson_ is one of the best pen
pictures of the old Doctor and his biographer that has ever
been written.
Percy Fitzgerald's _Life of Boswell_ (London, 1891) is good
and Rogers' _Boswelliana_ gives many anecdotes of the writer
of the best biography in the language. _Dr. Johnson and Mrs.
Thrale_, by A. M. Broadley, furnishes much curious
information about the relations of the old Doctor with the
woman who studied his comfort for so many years. It is rich
in illustrations from rare portraits and old prints and in
reproductions of letters (New York: John Lane Company,
1909).