Boswell was an important advocate for the cause of Corsican independence in the 1760s, and first found literary fame through his book An Account of Corsica. To build British support, Boswell relayed reports from the Corsican leader Pasquale Paoli to persons of influence, in this case George, Lord Lyttleton, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer. Boswell implores Lyttleton to attach his prestige to a book Boswell was preparing called British Essays in Favor of the Brave Corsicans.

If your Lordship does not forbid me I will enrich the collection with your Lordship’s letter to me in which you write in such a style as does honour both to Paoli and to your Lordship. Pray do not refuse that such a testimony to the modern Epaminondas should appear at a time when he is in distress.

Boswell was unsuccessful on both counts: Lyttleton’s letter did not appear in British Essays, and Paoli’s Corsican revolutionaries were forced to surrender to French rule the following year.

This particular copy is also notable for its provenance; it is inscribed “Peter McCallum, Serj., 74th Regiment, Fort George, Penobsc, March 30th, 1781.” That indicates that McCallum was part of a British regiment stationed at Fort George in Maine during the American Revolution, and likely took part in one of the colonists’ most stinging military defeats just two years earlier, the Penobscot Expedition.

It’s hard to know for sure which state is the earlier, but it seems plausible that the translator, Antoine Marie Henri Boulard, having noted in the original version that he had given up the profession of translation, subsequently decided to remove his name (and some identifying information about his new employment) from the work altogether. He appears to have had another change of heart, however, since we own several other Boulard translations from the 1790s and early 19th century.

UPDATE 7/6/11: My colleague Stephen Ferguson, Curator of Rare Books at Princeton, points out that the Princeton copy, scanned for Google Books, is halfway between these two, lacking the name on the title page but including the text in the preface.

Houghton is very pleased to have acquired Johnson’s copy of The Seven Champions, adding to our substantial collection of books from his library.

Like most of the Johnson books in our collection, this volume does not bear Johnson’s signature, but rather has a contemporary inscription attesting to its purchase at the 1785 auction of Johnson’s library.

Thomas Percy left a number of unfinished projects at his death, including an intended edition of the works of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham (1628-1687). The section of the works including the 1672 play The Rehearsal was printed probably at some time in the 1760s, but the unpublished sheets languished for many years in the warehouse of John Nichols, where they were eventually destroyed in an 1808 fire.

Both works are understandably rare: ESTC lists just four other copies of Burke’s Abridgment, and has no listing at all for the Percy work, although a copy is known to survive at the Bodleian Library at Oxford.