An Account of Corsica,

£3,500 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

Pottle, Boswell , 24; Gaskell, Foulis Press , 473; Rothschild 442. Boswell took a close interest in the printing and this copy has the two cancel leaves (E2 Z3, the former with the line-break “Is- | tria”) and the corrected spellings on p. 93, 184, 296. A fine copy of James Boswell’s “first important work” (ODNB) which drew international attention to the cause of Corsican independence and made the author’s name. With Pasquale di Paolo as its president, commander-in-chief, and chief magistrate the Republic of Corsica had declared its independence from Genoa in 1755. Boswell visited the island in the Autumn of 1765 at the end of his Grand Tour of Germany, Switzerland and Italy so well-documented in his Journals . Boswell’s Account of Corsica was published on 18 February 1768. “With its reports of the gallant islanders and a Plutarchan depiction of Paoli paralleled with several classical heroes. It was an immediate success. The work was widely read and translated, stimulated great interest in Paoli and the Corsican cause, brought its author wide fame in Britain and Europe, and found an interested readership in America. It attracted the notice of the French government (which had a translation made), and though Boswell’s ambition for British intervention was not to be fulfilled, he probably influenced Britain’s decision to send secret supplies of arms to the Corsicans.” ( ODNB ). On 2 March 1768 the Glasgow printer Robert Foulis wrote to Boswell at Edinburgh: “I rejoice to hear of

• Year: 1768

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