Samuel Johnson circa 1772, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Dr Samuel Johnson (September 7, 1709 Old Style/September 18 New Style ¹–December 13, 1784), often referred to simply as Dr Johnson, was one of England's greatest literary figures: a poet, essayist, biographer, lexicographer, and often esteemed the finest literary critic in English. Johnson was a great wit and prose stylist of genius, whose bons mots are still frequently quoted in print today. dr. ... dr. ... Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (July 16, 1723–February 23, 1792) was the most important and influential of eighteenth-century English painters, specialising in portraits and promoting the Grand Style in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. ... September 7 is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years). ... // Events January 12 - Two-month freezing period begins in France - The coast of the Atlantic and Seine River freeze, crops fail and at least 24. ... In Britain and countries of the British Empire, Old Style or O.S. after a date means that the date is in the Julian calendar, in use in those countries until 1752; New Style or N.S. means that the date is in the Gregorian calendar, adopted on 14 September... September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ... In Britain and countries of the British Empire, Old Style or O.S. after a date means that the date is in the Julian calendar, in use in those countries until 1752; New Style or N.S. means that the date is in the Gregorian calendar, adopted on 14 September... December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1784 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (mid-2004) - Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ... Poets are authors of poems, or of other forms of poetry such as dramatic verse. ... An essayist is an author who writes compositions which can be about any particular subject. ... This article needs cleanup. ... A lexicographer is a person devoted to the study of lexicography, especially an author of a dictionary. ... Literary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Life and work

The son of a poor bookseller, Johnson was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire. He attended Lichfield Grammar School, and from 1728 to 1731, Pembroke College, Oxford. Though he was a formidable student, poverty forced him to leave Oxford without taking a degree. He attempted to work as a teacher and schoolmaster, but these ventures were not successful. At the age of twenty-five, he married Elizabeth "Tetty" Porter, a widow twenty-one years his senior. Lichfield Cathedral June 2005 Lichfield is a small city in Staffordshire, 110 miles northwest of London and 14 miles north of Birmingham. ... Staffordshire (abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. ... Events Astronomical aberration discovered by the astronomer James Bradley Swedish academy of sciences founded at Uppsala Births January 9 - Thomas Warton, English poet (d. ... Events 10 Downing Street becomes the official residence of the United Kingdoms Prime Minister when Robert Walpole moves in. ... College name Pembroke College Named after William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke Established 1624 Sister College Queens College Master Giles Henderson JCR President Tristan de Souza Undergraduates 408 Graduates 94 Homepage Boatclub Pembroke College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Elizabeth Jervis Porter (1689-1752) was the wife of Samuel Johnson. ...

A portrait of Johnson from 1775 by Joshua Reynolds showing both Johnson's intense concentration and the weakness of his eyes.

In 1737, Johnson, penniless, left for London together with his former pupil David Garrick. Johnson found employment with Edward Cave, writing for The Gentleman's Magazine. For the next three decades, Johnson wrote biographies, poetry, essays, pamphlets, parliamentary reports and even prepared a catalogue for the sale of the Harleian Library. Johnson lived in poverty for much of this time. The poem "London" (1738) and the Life of Savage (1745), a biography of Johnson's friend and fellow writer Richard Savage, who had shared in Johnson's poverty and died in 1744, are important works of this period. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (832x1119, 534 KB)The famous Joshua Reynolds portrait of Samuel Johnson showing Johnson pulling a books cover back and concentrating intensely on its words. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (832x1119, 534 KB)The famous Joshua Reynolds portrait of Samuel Johnson showing Johnson pulling a books cover back and concentrating intensely on its words. ... 1775 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Events 12 February — The San Carlo, the oldest working opera house in Europe, is inaugurated. ... Categories: Actor stubs | 1717 births | 1779 deaths | English actors | Lichfield ... Edward Cave (1691-1754) was a printer, editor and publisher. ... The Gentlemans Magazine was the first general-interest magazine, and the most influential periodical of its time. ... Events January 1 - Bouvet Island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier. ... // Events May 11 - War of Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy - At Fontenoy, French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army including the Black Watch June 4 – Frederick the Great destroys Austrian army at Hohenfriedberg August 19 - Beginning of the 45 Jacobite Rising at Glenfinnan September 12 - Francis I is elected... This article needs cleanup. ... // Events The third French and Indian War, known as King Georges War, breaks out at Port Royal, Nova Scotia Ongoing events War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) Births May 19 - Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, queen of George III of Great Britain (d. ...

Johnson began on one of his most important works, A Dictionary of the English Language, in 1747. It was not completed until 1755. Although it was widely praised and enormously influential, Johnson did not profit from it much financially, since he had to bear the expenses of its long composition. At the same time he was working on his dictionary, Johnson was also writing a series of bi-weekly essays under the title The Rambler. These essays, often on moral and religious topics, tended to be more grave than the title of the series would suggest. The Rambler ran until 1752. Although not originally popular, they found a large audience once they were collected in volume form. Johnson's wife died shortly after the final number appeared. A Dictionary of the English Language, one of the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language, was prepared by Samuel Johnson and published on April 15, 1755. ... // Events January 31 - The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Dock Hospital April 9 - The Scottish Jacobite Lord Lovat was beheaded by axe on Tower Hill, London, for high treason; he was the last man to be executed in this way in Britain May 14 - First battle of Cape... 1755 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1752 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

Dr Johnson's House, 17 Gough Square, London

Johnson began another essay series, The Idler, in 1758. It ran weekly for two years. The Idler essays were published in a weekly news journal, rather than as an independent publication like The Rambler. They were shorter and lighter than the Rambler essays. In 1759, Johnson published his satirical novel Rasselas, said to have been written in two weeks to pay for his mother's funeral. At some point, however, Johnson gained a reputation for being a notoriously slow writer, and poet Charles Churchill wrote of him that He for subscribers baits his hook - and takes your cash, but where's the book.[1] Download high resolution version (457x640, 69 KB)photo by lonpicman File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (457x640, 69 KB)photo by lonpicman File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... 1758 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1759 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, often abbreviated to Rasselas, is a short story by Samuel Johnson, which he wrote in 1759 to help pay for his mothers funeral. ... Charles Churchill (February, 1731 - November 4, 1764), was an English poet and satirist. ...

In 1762, Johnson was awarded a government pension of three hundred pounds a year, largely through the efforts of Thomas Sheridan and the Earl of Bute. Johnson met James Boswell, his future biographer, in 1763. Around the same time, Johnson formed "The Club", a social group that included his friends Joshua Reynolds, Edmund Burke, David Garrick and Oliver Goldsmith. By now, Johnson was a celebrated figure. He received an honorary doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin in 1765, and one from Oxford ten years later. 1762 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Thomas Sheridan (1719 - 1788) was a stage actor and a major proponent of the elocution movement. ... John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (May 25, 1713 - March 10, 1792), was a Scottish nobleman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain (1762-1763) under George III. A close relative of the Campbell clan (his mother was a daughter of the First Duke of Argyll), Bute succeeded to... James Boswell James Boswell (October 29, 1740 - May 19, 1795) was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... 1763 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (July 16, 1723–February 23, 1792) was the most important and influential of eighteenth-century English painters, specialising in portraits and promoting the Grand Style in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. ... Edmund Burke The Right Honourable Edmund Burke (January 12, 1729 – July 9, 1797) was an Anglo-Irish statesman, author, orator and political philosopher, who served for many years in the British House of Commons as a member of the Whig party. ... Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (November 10, 1730(?) – April 4, 1774) was an Irish writer and physician known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), his pastoral poem The Deserted Village (1770) (written in memory of his brother), and his plays The Good-naturd Man (1768) and She Stoops... The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin or more commonly Trinity College, Dublin (TCD) was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, and is the only constituent college of the University of Dublin, Irelands oldest university. ... 1765 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1765, he met Henry Thrale, a wealthy brewer and member of Parliament, and his wife Hester Thrale. They quickly became friends, and soon Johnson became a member of the family. He stayed with the Thrales for fifteen years until Henry's death in 1781. Hester's reminiscences of Johnson, together with her diaries and correspondence, are second only to Boswell's as a source of biographical information on Johnson. 1765 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Henry Thrale by Sir Joshua Reynolds Henry Thrale (born 1724-30, at the Alehouse in Harrow Corner, Southwark, died 4 April 1781, London) was an 18th century English MP and a close friend of Samuel Johnson. ... Hester Lynch Thrale by Sir Joshua Reynolds Hester Lynch Thrale (born Hester Lynch Salusbury and after her second marriage, Hester Lynch Piozzi ) (16 January 1741 (she mistakenly celebrated her own birthday on 27 January) - May 2, 1821) was a British diarist, author, and a friend and confidante of Samuel Johnson. ... 1781 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1773, ten years after he met Boswell, the two set out on A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, and two years later Johnson's account of their travels was published under that title. (Boswell's The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides was published in 1786) Their visit to the Scottish Highlands and Hebrides took place when pacification after the Jacobite Risings was crushing the Clan system and Gaelic culture which was increasingly being romanticised. Johnson proceeded to attack the claims that James Macpherson's Ossian poems were translations of ancient Scottish literature, on the basis that the Gaelic language "never was a written language." This reveals Johnson's undoubted anti-Gaelic and anti-Scottish prejudice, but also perhaps some of the paranioia left-over after being fooled by a Scotsman called William Lauder into proclaiming John Milton a fraud, before consequently being made to look ridiculous by yet another Scot, John Douglas. 1773 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1786 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Scottish Highlands are the mountainous regions of Scotland north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault. ... The Hebrides comprise a wide-spread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland, and in geological terms are composed of the oldest rocks in the British Isles and Ireland. ... This article is not about the Jacobite Orthodox Church, nor is it about Jacobinism or the earlier Jacobean period. ... Clan map of Scotland Scottish clans give a sense of identity and shared descent to people in Scotland and to their relations throughout the world, with a formal structure of Clan Chiefs officially registered with the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which controls the heraldry and Coat... The Gaels are an ethnic group in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, whose language is one that is Gaelic (Goidelic). ... James Macpherson (October 27, 1736–February 17, 1796), was a Scottish poet, known as the translator of the Ossianic poems. ... Ossian, alternatively spelled Oisín, son of Fingal (Fionn mac Cumhail), is a poet and warrior of the fianna in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. ... William Lauder is: William Lauder (died 1771), forger William Lauder, (1794-1845), Canadian businessman This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... John Milton John Milton (December 9, 1608 – November 8, 1674) was an English poet, most famous for his blank verse epic Paradise Lost. ... John Douglas (July 14, 1721 - May 18, 1807) was a Scottish man of letters and Anglican bishop. ...

Johnson's final major work was the Lives of the English Poets, a project commissioned by a consortium of London booksellers. The Lives, which were critical as well as biographical studies, appeared as prefaces to selections of each poet's work. Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (1781) was a work by Samuel Johnson, comprising short biographies of about 50 poets, most of whom were alive in the eighteenth century. ...

Johnson died in 1784 and is buried in Westminster Abbey. 1784 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Westminster Abbeys western facade The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster, which is almost always referred to as Westminster Abbey, is a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral, in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. ...

Large and powerfully built, Johnson had poor eyesight and was hard of hearing. His face was deeply scarred from childhood scrofula. Johnson suffered from a number of tics and larger jerky involuntary movements; symptoms described by his contemporaries suggest that Johnson may have suffered from Tourette's syndrome and possibly obsessive-compulsive disorder. He tended towards melancholia. Johnson was a compassionate man, supporting a number of poor friends under his own roof. He was a devout, conservative Anglican as well as a staunch Tory. He admitted to sympathies for the Jacobite cause but by the reign of George III he came to accept the Hanoverian Succession. Nonetheless, Johnson was a fiercely independant and original thinker, as much a unique thinker-for-himself as Milton or Blake - although not in possession of a grand, ornately structured and systematic imagination - which explains his deep affinity for Milton despite the latter's intensely radical - and, for Johnson, intolerable - political and religious outlook; it is perhaps this privation of elaborate systematic and constructive intellectual proclivities that motivated his singular strength and recourse to the composition of satirical and critical works, though his profound and often deeply melancholy sense of humour or wit must also share responsiblity. King Henry IV of France touching a number of sufferers of scrofula who are gathered about him in a circle. ... A tic is a repeated, impulsive action, almost reflexive in nature, which the actor feels powerless to control or avoid. ... Tourette syndrome — also called Tourettes syndrome, Tourette Spectrum (TS), Tourettes disorder, or Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (after its discoverer, Georges Gilles de la Tourette) — is a neurological or neurochemical disorder characterized by tics — involuntary, rapid, sudden movements or vocalizations that occur repeatedly in the same way. ... Melancholia (Greek μελαγχολια) was described as a distinct disease as early as the fifth and fourth centuries BC in the Hippocratic writings. ... The term Anglican (from the Angles or English) describes those people and churches following the religious traditions developed by the established Church of England. ... The term Tory applied to the Tory Party, the ancestor of the modern UK Conservative Party. ... This article is not about the Jacobite Orthodox Church, nor is it about Jacobinism or the earlier Jacobean period. ... George III (George William Frederick) (4 June 1738 – 29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain, and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until 1 January 1801, and thereafter King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. ... The Electress Sophia The Act of Settlement (12 & 13 Wm 3 c. ... Milton is the name of a number of places: In the United States of America: Milton, Delaware Milton, Florida Milton, Illinois Milton, Indiana Milton, Iowa Milton, Kentucky Milton, Maine Milton High School in Alpharetta, GA Milton, Massachusetts Milton, New Hampshire Milton (town), New York (in Saratoga County) Milton, Ulster County... The name Blake is used to refer to: Among the most extensive landowners in Connacht from the 16th to the 19th century. ... Milton is the name of a number of places: In the United States of America: Milton, Delaware Milton, Florida Milton, Illinois Milton, Indiana Milton, Iowa Milton, Kentucky Milton, Maine Milton High School in Alpharetta, GA Milton, Massachusetts Milton, New Hampshire Milton (town), New York (in Saratoga County) Milton, Ulster County...

Re-enactment of Samuel Johnson's wedding to Elizabeth Porter ("Tetty") at St. Werburgh's Church in Derby. The event is re-enacted at the church every year.

Johnson's fame is due in part to the success of Boswell's Life of Johnson. Boswell, however, met Johnson when Johnson had already achieved a degree of fame and stability; Boswell's biography puts disproportionate emphasis on the last years of Johnson's life. Consequently, Johnson has been seen more as a gruff, lovable clubman than as the struggling and poverty-stricken writer that he was for the greater part of his life. Re-enactment of Samuel Johnsons wedding to Elizabeth Porter (Tetty Portter) at St, Werburghs Church in Derby File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Re-enactment of Samuel Johnsons wedding to Elizabeth Porter (Tetty Portter) at St, Werburghs Church in Derby File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... St. ... Derby (pronounced dar-bee ) is a city in the East Midlands of England. ... In English literature, Life of Johnson was a biography of Dr. Samuel Johnson written by James Boswell in 1791. ...

His time in Birmingham (after leaving Oxford and before he moved to London) is remembered by a frieze in the city's Old Square, an area much changed from when he lived there. Birmingham Central Library has a Johnson Collection. It has around 2,000 volumes of works by him, and books and periodicals about him. It includes many of his first editions. The city from above Centenary Square. ... Birmingham Central Library is the main library in Birmingham, England. ...

Notes

¹ After Britain's change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar in 1752, Johnson celebrated his birthday on September 18. The Julian calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, taking force in 45 BC or 709 ab urbe condita. ... The Gregorian calendar is the calendar widely used in the Western world. ... 1752 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ...

² Dr. Johnson (played by Robbie Coltrane) featured in the third series of Blackadder (in the episode titled 'Ink and Incapability'), presenting his dictionary to Prince George for his patronage, whereupon it is believed to be burnt by Baldrick; Blackadder then attempts to rewrite the whole thing in one night. Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid Robbie Coltrane (birth name Robert MacMillan, some sources say Anthony MacMillan) (born March 30, 1950) is a Scottish actor. ... Blackadder is the collective name for a series of British sitcoms made by the BBC, plus several one-off episodes, often for the television charity Comic Relief. ... ... There were several people named Prince George, and places named after them: George, Prince of Wales Prince George, Duke of Kent Prince George, Duke of Cambridge Prince George of Denmark Prince George of Yugoslavia Prince George I, Duke of Westrogothia Prince George (Blackadder character) Prince George, British Columbia Prince George... Blackadder is the collective name for a series of British sitcoms made by the BBC, plus several one-off episodes, often for the television charity Comic Relief. ...

Online texts

• Life Of Johnson by James Boswell (Project Gutenberg)
• Anecdotes of the late Samuel Johnson by Hester Thrale
• A list of e-texts of Johnson's works from the University of Pennsylvania Online Books Page.

James Boswell James Boswell (October 29, 1740 - May 19, 1795) was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Project Gutenberg (often abbreviated as PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. ... Hester Lynch Thrale by Sir Joshua Reynolds Hester Lynch Thrale (born Hester Lynch Salusbury and after her second marriage, Hester Lynch Piozzi ) (16 January 1741 (she mistakenly celebrated her own birthday on 27 January) - May 2, 1821) was a British diarist, author, and a friend and confidante of Samuel Johnson. ...

Bibliography

• Life of Savage (1745)
• A Dictionary of the English Language (1755)
• The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia (1759)
• Lives of the English Poets (1781)
• Henry Hitchings (2005), Dr Johnson's Dictionary: the extraordinary story of the book that defined the world, John Murray

// Events May 11 - War of Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy - At Fontenoy, French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army including the Black Watch June 4 – Frederick the Great destroys Austrian army at Hohenfriedberg August 19 - Beginning of the 45 Jacobite Rising at Glenfinnan September 12 - Francis I is elected... A Dictionary of the English Language, one of the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language, was prepared by Samuel Johnson and published on April 15, 1755. ... 1755 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, often abbreviated to Rasselas, is a short story by Samuel Johnson. ... 1759 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (1781) was a work by Samuel Johnson, comprising short biographies of about 50 poets, most of whom were alive in the eighteenth century. ... 1781 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

See also

• Dr Johnson's House

Dr Johnsons House, 17 Gough Square, London Dr Johnsons House in the City of London is a former home of the 18th century English writer Samuel Johnson. ...

External links

• Over 1,700 Johnson quotations are at The Samuel Johnson Sound Bite Page
• WikiQuote - Quotes by Samuel Johnson
• A discussion of the question of how liberal or conservative Johnson actually was.
• Reddick, Alan: The Making of Johnson's Dictionary (Cambridge, 1990)
• More quotes from Samuel Johnson on The Quotations Page

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Samuel Johnson