Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) is perhaps best known for his A Dictionary of the English Language, and The Lives of the English Poets. He was an essayist and review-writer, and produced important records of parliamentary debates. Johnson was a critical and fascinating chronicler of his time. Journey to the Hebrides: A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland & The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides by Samuel Johnson and James Boswell was published by Canongate in 2001. James Boswell (1740 -1795) , the son of an Ayrshire judge, was also an essayist and a member of Johnson's Literary Club (others included Goldsmith and Adam Smith). This ambitious and volatile man was certainly an intriguing character and an important portraitist, but is widely recognised as the author of the vivid The Life of Samuel Johnson.