The Vanity of Human Wishes First Edition

“The Vanity of Human Wishes” was first published by the London bookseller Robert Dodsley in 1749. Unlike “London,” Johnson’s name appears on the title page of this work, a sign that he was literally beginning to make a name for himself among readers of serious literature in Britain.

This gallery includes page images from the copy of that first edition in the collection of the Albert Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia.

ngg_shortcode_0_placeholderGallery of the first edition of The Vanity of Human Wishes