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Introductory Note
Introductory Note
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), the great literary dictator of the latter
part of the eighteenth century, was the son of a bookseller at Lichfield.
After leaving Oxford, he tried teaching, but soon gave it up, and came to
London in 1737, where he supported himself by his pen. After years of hardship
he finally rose to the head of his profession, and a pension of 300 Pounds a
year from George III. made his later years free from anxiety.
[See Samuel Johnson: Samuel Johnson at the house of Lord Chesterfield. From
the painting by E.M. Ward, R.A..]
Johnson attempted many forms of literature. In poetry his chief works
were "London," an imitation of Juvenal, and "The Vanity of Human Wishes," a
piece of dignified and impressive moralizing. Garrick produced his tragedy of
"Irene" in 1749, but without much success. The great Dictionary appeared in
1755, and made an epoch in the history of English lexicography. From 1750 to
1752 he issued the "Rambler," which he wrote almost entirely himself. This
periodical is regarded as the most successful of the imitations of the
"Spectator," but the modern reader finds it heavy. The "Idler," a similar
publication, appeared from 1758 to 1760. In 1759, when Johnson`s mother died,
he wrote his didactic romance of "Rasselas" in one week in order to defray the
expenses of her illness and funeral. This was the most popular of his writings
in his own day, and has been translated into many languages. In 1765 Johnson
issued his edition of Shakespeare in eight volumes, a task in many respects
inadequately performed, yet in the interpretation of obscure passages often
showing Johnson`s robust common sense and power of clear and vigorous
expression.
It is generally agreed that none of Johnson`s various works is the equal
of his conversation as reported in the greatest of English biographies,
Boswell`s "Life of Johnson." But the "Lives of the Poets," written as prefaces
to a collection of the English poets, is his most permanently valuable
production, and, though limited by the standards of his time, is full of acute
criticism admirably expressed. The "Life of Addison" is one of the most
sympathetic of the "Lives," and gives an excellent idea of Johnson`s matter
and manner.
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