A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland.

London: Printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell,, 1775. Second edition, first state, a notably fresh copy of one of Samuel Johnson's "most eloquent and challenging works, a great document of cultural studies before the topic was invented" (ODNB). The Journey narrates Johnson's 83-day journey in 1773. He was accompanied by James Boswell, whose record of the trip was published in 1785 as A Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides. Few travel writers explored the region at that time and there was little description of it in popular print. The Journey is thus an important assessment of Western Scotland at a time of rapid change. Although Johnson was criticized by Scottish contemporaries for his prejudice against the inhabitants, the work offers a perceptive analysis of the issues facing them: including emigration from the Highlands, the break up of the clans, and the garrisoning of towns in the wake of the Jacobite rising. Johnson reflected that he came "too late to see what we expected... a system of antiquated life" (p. 128). In Johnson's discussions of the last vestiges of that life, moreover, the Journey offers a further, significant perspective: on the disconnect between the Enlightenment principles of Johnson's elite London and Edinburgh circles, and the Gaelic, Catholic-leaning oral cultures on the margins of 18th century Britain. The six-line errata leaf, and the phrase "affording" on p. 199, line 13, distinguish this copy as a second edition; it further has the first state of p. 1 signed 'B'. The second edition is thought to have been issued immediately after the first, once the printer realised that demand was likely to far exceed the original run of 2,000. Octavo (204 x 125 mm). Early 20th-century polished calf by Zaehnsdorf, spine with raised bands, second and third compartments with morocco labels in red and black respectively, covers ruled and turn-ins tooled in gilt, edges yellow. With 6-line errata leaf. Lightly rubbed, slight tape residue to spine, several spots to rear cover, cosmetic split to front inner hinge, sporadic light foxing: a very good copy. Chapman & Hazen, p. 151; Courtney & Smith, p. 122; ESTC T83702; Rothschild 1256. William Todd, "The printing of Johnson's Journey (1775)", Studies in Bibliography, vol. 6, 1954.