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The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides
WITH
SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 1

DR. JOHNSON had for many years given me hopes that
we should go together and visit the Hebrides. Martin's
Account of those islands 2 " had impressed us with a notion that
we might there contemplate a system of life almost totally dif-
ferent from what we had been accustomed to see; and to find
simplicity and wildness, and all the circumstances of remote
time or place, so near to our native great island, was an object
within the reach of reasonable curiosity. Dr. Johnson has said
in his Journey that he scarcely remembered how the wish to
visit the Hebrides was excited; but he told me, in summer
1763, that his father put Martin's Account into his hands when
he was very young, and that he was much pleased with it. We
reckoned there would be some inconveniencies and hardships,
and perhaps a little danger; but these we were persuaded were
magnified in the imagination of everybody. When I was at
Ferney in 1764, I mentioned our design to Voltaire. 3 He

____________________
1 Up to p. 56 the text is that of the third edition of Boswell's printed Tour, the significant
variations in the original notes or Journal being recorded in footnotes. For a fuller state-
ment of the editorial policy, see the textual note, pp. xxii - xxiv.
2 In the National Library of Scotland is a copy of this book, bearing the following inscrip-
tion in Boswell's hand: "This very book accompanied Mr. Samuel Johnson and me in our
tour to the Hebrides in autumn 1773. Mr. Johnson told me that he had read Martin
when he was very young. Martin was a native of the Isle of Skye, where a number of his
relations still remain. His book is a very imperfect performance; and he is erroneous as to
many particulars, even some concerning his own island. Yet as it is the only book upon
the subject, it is very generally known. I have seen a second edition of it. I cannot but
have a kindness for him, notwithstanding his defects.-- JAMES BOSWELL. 16 April 1774.
3 On 24 December 1764. The conversation was in French, Voltaire explaining that one
could not talk English without putting the tongue between the teeth, and that he had
lost his teeth. See Boswell Papers, iv. 130.

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Publication Information: Book Title: Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, Ll. D. 1773. Contributors: Frederick A. Pottle - editor, Charles H. Bennett - editor, James Boswell - author. Publisher: McGraw-Hill. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: 1961. Page Number: 3.
    
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