[Johnson, Samuel] | The Idler, presentation copy of the first collected edition

[Johnson, Samuel]

The Idler. In Two Volumes. London: J. Newbery, 1761

2 vols., 12mo (168 x 100 mm). Advertisement leaf following title to vol. I, ornamental head and tail-pieces, 3 pages of publisher's advertisements at end of vol. II; lacking front free endpapers, potential repair to gutter of titles, presentation inscription pasted to modern front free endpaper of vol. I, gathering loose in vol. II, leaves toned, edges chipped, contemporary marginalia. Modern full brown calf, bound to style, decorated in blind, spine gilt-lettered; a few minor scuffs.

Presentation copy, with "From the author" inscribed on title of vol. II and slip reading "[Illegible?] From the author" pasted to modern front free endpaper of vol. I.

The first collected edition of Johnson's essays of witty social commentary, and one of 1,500 copies printed (Courtney and Smith). The 103 essays, all but twelve by Johnson, were originally published weekly in The Universal Chronicle over the course of three years.

Presentation copies of The Idler are rare; Rare Book Hub notes three in the last fifty years. One was a third edition inscribed to a "Miss Eccles;" another was a first edition presented to "Mrs Margaret Penelope Strahan," the wife of the printer William Strahan; and a third was a first edition presented to Esther Burney, the sister of the novelist Fanny Burney.

The present copy comes from the library of John Baker Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield, a contemporary of Johnson's. It is possible that the pair were acquainted in intellectual circles: Holroyd was particularly close with the renowned British historian and essayist Edward Gibbon, who was a member of Johnson's social sphere and participant in his Literary Club. It is not unplausible that their connection bestowed these volumes. Indeed, Holroyd's library at Sheffield Place was directly linked to Gibbon's collecting and relationships—Holroyd, who served as Gibbon's executor, was envious of Gibbon's robust library, even requesting that he inherit the books upon the historian's death. Gibbon rejected the idea: "I consider a public sale as the most laudable method of disposing of it ... If indeed a true liberal public library existed in London, I might be tempted to enrich the catalogue and encourage the institution: but to bury my treasure in a country mansion under the key of a jealous master!" Gibbon died at the Sheffield estate in Sussex in 1794, and Holroyd appears to have followed through on his wishes, organizing the sale of the library at auction that same year (Sims).

PROVENANCE

John Baker Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield, 1735-1821 (armorial bookplate to modern upper pastedowns)

REFERENCES

Courtney and Smith, p. 83; Sims, "Edward Gibbon's Library: A New Acquisition," Cambridge University Library Special Collections, 13 September 2017, https://specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=15014, accessed 10 March 2026