One of the most successful literary treasure hunts of the past 25 years has been the pursuit of the scattered manuscripts and correspondence of Sam Johnson's gossipy biographer, James Boswell (TIME, March 9, 1936, et seq.).
When a cache of Boswell's private papers turned up in Ireland's Malahide Castle in the mid-'20s scholars promptly agreed it was the greatest literary find of the century. In 1930, rummagers at Malahide poked into an old croquet box, found more. In 1931, a third cache was uncovered in Scotland's Fettercairn House, squirreled away in storerooms and a nursery cupboard. In 1937, a fourth find was...
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