Editing James Boswell (section)

==Early life==
Boswell was born in [[Blair's Land]] on the east side of [[Parliament Close]] behind [[St Giles' Cathedral]] in Edinburgh on 29 October 1740 ([[New Style|N.S.]]).<ref name=cal/> He was the eldest son of a judge, [[Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck]], and his wife Euphemia Erskine. As the eldest son, he was heir to his family's estate of [[Auchinleck]] in [[Ayrshire]]. Boswell's mother was a strict [[Calvinist]], and he felt that his father was cold to him. As a child, he was delicate. [[Kay Jamison]], Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins, in her book ''Touched with Fire'', believes that Boswell may have suffered from [[bipolar disorder]],<ref>Kay Redfield Jamison. ''Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament''. Free Press,1996. {{ISBN|978-0684831831}}</ref> and this condition would afflict him sporadically all through his life. At the age of five, he was sent to [[James Mundell]]'s academy, an advanced institution by the standards of the time, where he was instructed in English, [[Latin]], writing and arithmetic.

The eight-year-old Boswell was unhappy there, and suffered from nightmares and extreme shyness. Consequently, he was removed from the academy and educated by a string of private tutors. The most notable and supportive of these, John Dunn, exposed Boswell to modern literature, such as ''[[The Spectator (1711)|The Spectator]]'' essays, and religion. Dunn was also present during Boswell's serious affliction of 1752, when he was confined to the town of [[Moffat]] in northern Dumfriesshire. This afforded Boswell his first experience of genuine society. His recovery was rapid and complete, and Boswell may have decided that travel and entertainment exerted a calming therapeutic effect on him.
[[File:Parliament House from the Cowgate.JPG|thumb|Boswell's Edinburgh. In his journals he often mentions using the "Back Stairs" behind Parliament Close. His birthplace was the family's town house on the east side of the close, just around the corner at the top of the steps.]]
At thirteen, Boswell was enrolled into the arts course at the [[University of Edinburgh]], studying there from 1753 to 1758. Midway through his studies, he suffered an episode of serious depression but recovered fully. Boswell had swarthy skin, black hair and dark eyes; he was of average height, and he tended to plumpness. His appearance was said to be alert and masculine.

Upon turning nineteen, he was sent to continue his studies at the [[University of Glasgow]], where he attended the lectures of [[Adam Smith]]. While at Glasgow, Boswell decided to convert to Catholicism and become a [[monk]]. Upon learning of this, his father ordered him home. Instead of obeying, though, Boswell ran away to London, where he spent three months, living the life of a [[libertine]], before he was taken back to Scotland by his father. Upon returning, he was re-enrolled at Edinburgh University and forced by his father to sign away most of his inheritance in return for an allowance of £100 a year.