Powell was interested in fellow
lexicographer Samuel Johnson. Johnsonian scholar
R. W. Chapman asked Powell to revise
George Birkbeck Hill's edition of
James Boswell's
Life of Samuel Johnson in 1923. His revised edition was published in 1934 in four volumes and "thereafter, as for Johnson, the title was inseparable from his name". A fifth volume consisted of his edition of Boswell's
The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides after Boswell papers were discovered at
Malahide Castle and
Fettercairn House. The sixth volume was the index.
Durham University awarded Powell a Doctor of Letters in 1935 on the strength of his work on Boswell. Right up until his death, Powell continued research for an updated edition of the
Life of Johnson.
J. D. Fleeman claimed that "his
Boswell is a lasting memorial". ==Notes==