SA
SAMUEL JOHNSON (1709-1784)
1/
The Dictionary was an extraordi
Plan of an English Dictionary t? til
ing almost entirely alone, compIled
but also a huge number of illustrat
poetry. Iiis work stands as the fo
built and it is all the more rema~k
lie'gIect, loneliness and s?rrow (hiS
failing effort to combat 1I1dolen~e. ;
a moving account of its composltto
In this work. when it shall be I
much likewise is performed; 2
to the author, and the world
of that which it condemns; ye
Dicionary was written with Ii
age of the great; not in th~
academick bowers, but amid
sorrow. It may repress the t
language is not here fully d
human powers have. hithert~
the praise of perfection. Whl
would it avail me? I have p~
please, have sunk into t~e
I, therefore, disn:tiss it With
censure or from praise.
The reference to the absence
who condescended to notice the
letter to Chesterfield is the ~ost
is quoted in full by Boswell 111 J
Between 1758 and 1760 Johm
philosophical "nove!," Rasselas (
expenses. In 1765 he publishec
same year he received the Doci
repeated ten year~ later by Oxl
ment with the LIVes of the El
Westminster Abbey.
Boswell met Johnson in 1763
figure and manner, are. I beli
During the last twenty years 0
midst of the brilliant companl
rick, and other distinguished ~'
son's conversational powers-hi
ex"j:ieri'eii'Ce, c~ant thru~t ~
precIsely i'fIe" powers of hiS c.
talk. IDdeed, johnson's person
r$Tded as an almost alleg'
Progress. W. J. Bate has p.er'
he "led a life of allegory; his'
The Oxford edition of Jot
Yale edition (1958- ) of whi,
Annals, cd. E. L. McAdam, J1
Adventurer, ed. W. J. Bate, J.
Bate and A. B. Strauss, III, I
(1964); Johnson on Shakespet
Hawkins (15 vols., 1787-89); ,
ed. O. F. Emerson (1895); ed.
/0 the Western Islands of Scotl
of the Hebrides); Lives of the
tions, ed. A. T. Hazen (New
R. W. Chapman (3 vols., Oxfo
leetions fTOrte Samuel ]ohnso:
Modern Selection, cd. E. L. !
Johnson: A Selection, ed. J.
and Idler, cd. W. J. Bate (l~
SAMUEL JOHNSON
695
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The Dictionary was an extraordinary achievement. Between 1747-when he dedicated his
Plan of an English Dictionary to the indifferent Lord Chesterfield-and 1755, Johnson, work·
ing almost entirely alone, compiled not only etymologies and definitions for his two volumes
but also a huge number of illustrative quotations from the best models of English prose and
poetry. His work stands as the foundation upon which aU modern dictionarjes have beep
~nd it is all the more remarkable when we know that it was completed amidst poverty,
neglect, loneliness and SOTTOW (his wife, "Tetty," died in 1752), and in a vigorous but often
failing effort to combat indolence and despair. His Preface to the Dictionary concludes with
a moving account of its composition:
In this work, when it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not be forgotten that
much likewise is performed; and though no book was ever spared out of tenderness
to the author, and the world is little solicitous to know whence proceeded the faults
of that which it condemns: yet it may gratify curiosity to inform it, that the English
Dicionary was written with little assistance of the learned, and without any patron­ age of the great; not in the soft obscurities of retirement, or under the shelter of
academick bowers, but amidst inconvenience and distraction, in sickness and in
sorrow. It may repress the triumph of malignant criticism to observe, that if our
language is not here fully displayed, I have only failed in an attempt, which no
human powers have hitherto completed . . . I may surely be contented without
the praise of perfection, which, if I could obtain, in this gloom of solitude, what
would it avail me? I have protracted my work till most of those, whom I wished to
please, have sunk into the grave, and success and miscarriage are empty sounds:
I, therefore, dismiss it with frigid tranquillity, having little to fear or hope from
censure or from praise.
The reference to the absence of patronage refers to his relations with Lord Chesterfield
who condescended to notice the Dictionary only as it neared completion. Johnson's famous
letter to Chesterfield is the most eloquent of the many attacks on the patronage system and
is quoted in full by Boswell in his Life of Johnson (see pages 885-86 of this anthology).
Between 1758 and 1760 Johnson brought out a new periodical, The Idler, and his short,
philosopbical "novel," Rasselas (1759), which he WTOte in a week to pay his mother's funeral
expenses. In 1765 he published his edition of Shakespeare with its great Preface; in the
same year he received the Doctor of Laws degree from Trinity College, Dublin-an honor
repeated ten years later by Oxford. Johnson crowned, in his seventies, bis literary achieve­
ment with the Lives of the English Poets (1779-81). He died in, 1784 and was buried in
Westminster Abbey.
Boswell met Johnson in 1763 and he says in his Life that Johnson's "character . . . nay, his
figure and manlier, are, I believe, more generally known than those of almost any man."
During the last twenty years of his life, Johnson became an almost legendary figure in the
midst of the brilliant company of Burke, Gibbon, Adam Smith, Goldsmith, Reynolds, Gar·
rick, and other distinguished company that assembled as The Club, founded in 1764. John.
son's conversational owe s-'s uick wit un ent wisdom, firm grasp upon the realitieS'Of
expenence, c~ant thrust towards the "stability of trut
e amous; ut t ey are
preCise! the owers of hIS "character" and are as much
In IS wntIn 5 as In IS
talk. ndeed, Johnson's personality and his writings are so much of a piece that he has been
rrgarded as an almost allegorical figure and likened to Valiant-for·Truth in Pilgrim's .
Progress. W . .1. Bate has perceptively applied to Johnson what Keats said of Shakespeare:
he "led a life of allegory; his works are the comments on it."
The Oxford edition of johnson's Works (1825) is standard but will be replaced by the
Yale edition (1958- ) of which the following volumes have appeared: Diaries, Prayers, and
Annals, ed. E. L. McAdam, Jr., with Donald and Mary Hyde, I (1958); The Idler and The
Adventurer, ed. W. J. Bate, J. M. Bullitt, and L. F. Powell, II (1963); The Rambler, ed. W. 1­
Bate and A. B. Strauss, III, IV, and V (1969); Poems, ed. E. L. McAdam and G. Milne, VI
(1964); Johnson On Shakespeare. ed. A. Sherbo, VII and VIII (1968). Works, ed. Sir John
Hawkins (15 vols., 1787-89); Selected Prose and Poetry, ed. B. H. Bronson (1952); Rasselas,
ed. O. F. Emerson (1895); ed. R. W. Chapman (Oxford, 1927); ed. J. }'. Hardy (1968); Journey
to the Western Islands of Scotland, ed. R. W. Chapman (1924) (with Boswell's Journal of a Tour
of the Hebrides); Lives of the Poets, ed, G. B. Hill (3 vols., Oxford, 1905); Prefaces and Dedica­
tions, ed. A. T. Hazen (New Haven, 1937); Letters, ed. G. B. Hill (2 vo)s., Oxford, 1897); ed.
R. W. Chapman (3 vols., Oxford, 1952); Critical Opinions, ed. 1- E. Brown (Princeton, 1926); Se­
lections from Samuel .Johnson 1709-84, ed. R. W. Chapman (1962); Johnson's Dictionary: A
Modern Selection, ed. E. L. McAdam, Jr. and G. Milne (1963); The Political Writings of Dr.
Johnson: A Selection, ed. J. P. Hardy (1968); Selected Essays from the Rambler, Adventurer,
and Idler, ed. W. J. Bate (1968); Life, see Boswell, p. 876; P. H. Houston, Dr. Johnson: A
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