James Boswell, An Account of Corsica: The Journal of a Tour to that Island

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James Boswell was encouraged by the philosopher Rousseau to visit Corsica, then (1765) the focus of political thinkers for its independence struggle against the “old” Europe of Genoa but not well known at first hand. Impressed by the qualities of its leader, General Paoli, Boswell campaigned in the British newspapers, lobbied the Elder Pitt to intervene, and personally sent thirty cannon from the Carron Ironworks at Falkirk. An ironic consequence of the ultimate failure of Paoli was that one of the first babies born under the conquering French jurisdiction was Napoleon Bonaparte, son of Paoli's adjutant. Influential in Boswell's campaign was his

Account of Corsica

(1768), partly an unoriginal synthesis of geography and history, partly the Journal of his tour, drawing from his…

447 words

Citation: McGowan, Ian. "An Account of Corsica: The Journal of a Tour to that Island". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 January 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6713, accessed 19 March 2024.]

6713 An Account of Corsica: The Journal of a Tour to that Island 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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