'Redford's edition of Johnson's correspondance is one of those rare marvels of modern scholarship which restore confidence in the whole enterprise of academic literary studies. The accolades that greeted the publication of the first three volumes are no less merited with the issuance of these final two volumes, with volume IV including the letters from 1782-84 and Volume V, appendices and a comprehensive index. The editing is unobtrusive but scrupulous, andthe volumes are handsomely and tadtefully printed and bound.'English Studies'Professor Redford's editing of the letters seems impeccable, and he supplies some fascinating information in his footnotes.' Sunday Telegraph'impeccably presented edition from OUP, of Johnson's letters'Anthony Quinn, Sunday Times'Bruce Redford's edition of Johnson's letters has since its publication found a well-deserved place on the bookshelves of Johnson scholars and enthusiasts alike. Redford's conscientious study of manuscripts and holographs has restored to these letters Johnson's original orthography, punctuation and language.Redford's notes provide indispensable background information for readers unfamiliar with Johnson's complicated network of friends and circumstances,but equally important, Redford supplies the full quotation, source and English translation of Johnson's literary allusions however fleeting.invariably concise syntheses of previous criticism withvaluable contributions from his own research.

Redford's well-edited and handsome Letters of Samuel Johnson provides material for a welcome reappraisal of the epistolary man of letters.'The New Rambler'Volume IV of Johnson's Letters, which covers the last three years of his life, and Volume V, which contained undated letters and a fine comprehensive index, complete the superb new Hyde edition. Professor Redford has put everyone with an interest in Johnson in his debt. The reader has the incomparable experience of accompanying Johnson on his life's journey. Not only is this a work of meticulous scholarship but it is also a superb reading edition,beautifully printed, a pleasure to handle and very reasonably priced.'Thomas Woodman, University of Reading, Journal of Eighteenth-century Studies, Volume 19, Part 1, Sping 1996.