8vo. Two volumes bound in one. xvi, 279, [1]; ix, [1], 306pp. Handsomely bound in contemporary sheep, gilt, contrasting red morocco lettering-piece. A crisp copy, with faint crease to spine and a little scuffing to boards. Some damp-staining, most noticeably to the front endpapers. With bookplate of Murdock Library, Canterbury, to FEP.

The first Irish edition, appearing the same year as the first English printing, of the correspondence between Samuel Johnson and Hester Lynch Piozzi; the majority of which were composed between August 1765 and July 1784. Johnson regularly called at the Piozzi household, and would later express his gratitude for 'that kindness which soothed twenty years of a life radically wretched.' The collection has proved an invaluable source for biographical details of Johnson, balancing the often biased portrait presented by Boswell. The 'poems never before printed' include verses addressed to Dr. Lawrence and translations from Boethius, with which Johnson had received assistance from Piozzi.