necessary for this addition to the many proofs he has given of excellence in every species of composition. A few illustrative notes have been appended to some parts of this edition. The time is not yet come when it will be necessary to extend this kind of information, but some events and circumstances required explanation, and some dates were wanting to the lesser pieces. I have only to add that the RAMBLERS and IDLERS were revised according to the text of the lately collated edition in the BRITISH ESSAYISTS, and several material errors have been corrected. London, ALEXR CHALMERS. * The Lives of the Poets in this Edition (the sixth) are accompanied by a few Notes from the pen of the late Mr. Malone, transcribed from a copy which that gentleman interleaved for the purpose of correction and illustration. Three of Johnson's compositions have also been added, which have not hitherto been printed among his Works: an Ode to Friendship; a Translation of a Chorus in the Medea of Euripides; and The Fountains, a Fairy Tale, which Mr. Boswell, in his list of Johnson's Works, has inserted as one of his acknowledged productions. OF Prologue to the Masque of Comus Prologue to the Comedy of the Good-natured Man To Miss *****, on her giving the Author a Gold and Silk Net-work Purse of her own weaving To Miss *****, on her playing upon the Harpsichord AN ESSAY ON THE LIFE AND GENIUS. OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. WHEN the works of a great Writer, who has bequeathed to posterity a lasting legacy, are presented to the world, it is naturally expected that some account of his life should accompany the edition. The Reader wishes to know as much as possible of the Author. The circumstances that attended him, the features of his private character; his conversation, and the means by which he rose to eminence, become the favourite objects of |