The Huntington Library,
Art Collections, and
Botanical Gardens
May 23–Sept. 21, 2009
Library West Hall
Samuel Johnson
Literary Giant of the Eighteenth Century
The Writer Samuel Johnson
amuel Johnson (1709–
1784) is one of the great
moralists, poets, biographers, critics, essayists, and
correspondents of all time, a
writer and conversationalist
so insightful and adept in the
use of language that only
Shakespeare and the Bible
are quoted more often. He so
dominated literary and
intellectual life in the latter
18th century that the era is
frequently referred to as the
“Age of Johnson.”
S
This exhibition of rare books,
manuscripts, and portraits
drawn from The Huntington
collections and the Loren and
Frances Rothschild Collection celebrates the 300th
anniversary of Johnson’s
birth. It tells the story of his
life and achievements, how
he became the preeminent
authority on English language and literature, and
why his profound humanity
still touches us.
ohnson was one of the earliest English authors to
make his living solely by what he wrote. His
varied writings dealt with religion, science, law,
language, politics, poetry, theater, and everyday life.
All of Johnson’s works are distinguished by an
essential understanding of the trials and joys of life
that we all share, expressed sincerely and succinctly
in a way that captures the true significance of a
thought or feeling.
J
After arriving in London in March 1737, Johnson
spent nearly a decade as a poorly paid journalist
and a writer for booksellers. In 1746 he began work
on A Dictionary of the English Language. After nine
years’ labor, he completed his definitive dictionary,
which drew on his vast knowledge of the best
authors in the English language. Published in 1755,
in two massive volumes, it defined 43,000 words and
illustrated them with 116,000 quotations. It was the
monumental literary achievement of the age; all
later English dictionaries are based on it.
While writing the Dictionary, Johnson published his
most famous poem, The Vanity of Human Wishes,
and contributed more than 200 essays to his twiceweekly periodical The Rambler, which earned him
a reputation as a profound moralist. This reputation
was enhanced by the publication in 1759 of The
Prince of Abissinia, popularly known as Rasselas.
Later, his edition of Shakespeare and his Prefaces
to The Lives of the Poets secured his fame as a literary
critic and biographer.
Whether he was quickly composing a biographical
essay for The Gentleman’s Magazine, assisting in the
writing of a treatise on the history of English law, or
lamenting his own emotional state in a devotional
poem, Johnson consistently exhibited remarkable
insight and verbal artistry.
A decent provision for the poor is the true test of
civilization.
Quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson
Selections from the Exhibition
London: A Poem, in Imitation of the Third Satire of
Juvenal. 1738. First
edition.
Johnson’s first separately
published poem describes
the corruption and despair
of London life in these
Dickensian lines:
Portrait of Samuel Johnson by
Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1769
Here malice, rapine,
accident conspire,
And now a rabble
rages, now a fire;
Their ambush here
relentless, ruffians
lay; And here a fell
attorney prowls for
prey.
The Vanity of Human Wishes, The Tenth Satire of Juvenal,
Imitated. 1749. First edition.
The Vanity of Human Wishes, the first of Johnson’s works in which he
is identified as the author, is his most enduring poem.T. S. Eliot said of
it and Johnson’s earlier poem London that they were“among the
greatest verse Satires of the English or any other language.”
The poem demonstrates the futility of seeking happiness in
material things and concludes with Johnson’s assertion of the
redemptive power of Christianity. In the first stanza, Johnson writes:
Then say how hope and fear, desire and hate,
O’erspread with snares the clouded maze of fate,
Where wavering man, betrayed by venturous pride,
To tread the dreary paths without a guide,
As treacherous phantoms in the mist delude,
Shuns fancied ills, or chases airy good:
How rarely reason guides the stubborn choice,
Rules the bold hand, or prompts the suppliant voice;
How nations sink, by darling schemes oppressed,
When Vengeance listens to the fool’s request.
The Rambler. 1750–52. First edition. (Rothschild Collection)
In his introduction to the Yale edition of The Rambler, Johnson
scholar W. Jackson Bate says that in these works“Johnson emerges
for us as one of the great moralists of modern times—as one of a
handful of men, during the last three centuries, whose writing on
human life and destiny has become a permanent part of the
conscience of mankind.”The following two examples are from The
Rambler.
He, who has so little knowledge of human nature, as to seek
happiness by changing anything, but his own dispositions, will
waste his life in fruitless efforts, and multiply the griefs which
he purposes to move.
No species of writing seems more worthy of cultivation than
biography, since none can be more delightful or useful, none
can more certainly enchain the heart by irresistible interest, or
more widely diffuse instruction to every diversity of condition.
The Plan of a Dictionary of the English Language. 1747.
First edition. (Rothschild Collection)
In February 1746 the bookseller Robert Dodsley suggested to
Johnson that he write a dictionary of the English language, an
enterprise that had long been contemplated in England but never
accomplished. On June 18, Johnson
and a consortium of booksellers
signed a contract pursuant to
which Johnson would be paid
1,500 guineas and was to
complete the work in three years.
The Plan, in 34 quarto pages,
was in effect a prospectus
intended to stake out the territory
and to set forth Johnson’s
intention to fix the orthography,
grammar, meaning, and usage of
the entire English language.
The Dictionary, with a Grammar and History of the English
Language, being now at length published in two volumes folio,
the world contemplated with wonder so stupendous a work
achieved by one man, while other countries had thought such
undertakings fit only for whole academies.
James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language:
In Which the Words are Deduced from Their Originals, and
Illustrated in Their Different Significations by Examples
from the Best Writers. Printed by William Strahan. 1755.
Two volumes. First edition. (Copy uncut and in original
boards from the Rothschild Collection)
Drawing on the books in his own library, borrowed books, his
memory of books he had read previously, and specialized word lists
and dictionaries, Johnson, by himself, wrote over the course of nine
years the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language.
It remained the definitive authority on English until the 20th
century.
The Prince of Abissinia. A Tale
[commonly called Rasselas]. 1759. First edition.
The opening words of this enduring moral fable demonstrate the
power of Johnson’s prose and preview the theme of the book:
Ye who listen with credulity to the whispers of fancy, and
pursue with eagerness the phantoms of hope; who expect that
age will perform the promises of youth, and that the deficiencies of the present day will be supplied by the morrow;
attend to the history of Rasselas
prince of Abissinia.
Johnson wrote Rasselas during
the evenings of a single week to pay
for the funeral of his mother. It has
been republished in more than 500
editions in English and in scores of
translations.
Samuel Johnson, Diary. Aug. 9, 1781.
Johnson understood his own faults and weaknesses. In this diary
entry written late in his life, he confronts his propensity for procrastination and laziness, and he admonishes himself:
After innumerable
resolutions formed
and neglected, I have
retired hither to plan
a life of greater
diligence, in the hope
that I may yet be
useful. . . . My purpose
is to pass eight hours
every day in some
serious employment.
Letter to John Ryland.
July 8, 1783. (Rothschild Collection)
This moving letter to his
friend and fellow Club
member was composed
shortly after Johnson
suffered a stroke. It
begins poignantly:
Most of our friends You and I have lost, let us therefore cling to
each other, and cherish our mutual kindness by conversation or
letters as the state of life admits.
The final paragraph reminds us of Johnson’s psychological insight:
Of your retreat I think with pleasure; there is to a busy man
great happiness in an interval of life which he can spend as he
pleases, but it is seldom long that the mind is sufficient for its
own amusement; it returns soon with eagerness to external
occupations.
As war is the last of remedies, . . . all lawful expedients
must be used to avoid it. As war is the extremity of evil, it
is surely the duty of those whose station intrusts them with
the care of nations, to avert it from their charge.
Thoughts on the Late Transactions
Respecting Falkland’s Islands
Letter to Sir Robert Chambers. Oct. 4, 1783.
(Rothschild Collection)
Between 1766 and 1770 Johnson helped Chambers (1737–1803)
write the second Vinerian law lectures (the first lectures were by
Blackstone and were later published as Commentaries on
the Laws of England). Chambers went on to become chief
justice of the Court of Bengal, and he and Johnson
corresponded regularly. In this touching letter Johnson
laments his own ill health (he died 14 months later) and
the death of his friends, and consoles Chambers on the
death of his young son:
Let us not take too much delight in pleasures we
cannot long enjoy, nor grieve with too much dejection
for evils which cannot long be felt.
Meeting of “The Club.”
Suggested Reading List
Editions of Johnson’s Works
Works about Johnson
The Essays of Samuel Johnson: Selected from
The Rambler, 1750–52;The Adventurer, 1753; and
The Idler, 1758–60. Kessinger Publishing, 2007.
W. Jackson Bate, Life of Samuel Johnson. Harcourt
Brace, 1977.
The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia. Various
publishers.
Johnson’s Dictionary: A Modern Selection. Dover Books,
2005.
Letters of Samuel Johnson, edited by Bruce Redford.
Princeton University Press, 1992–94.
Lives of the Poets: A Selection. Oxford University Press,
2009.
Samuel Johnson:The Major Works. Oxford University
Press, 2009.
Samuel Johnson, edited by Donald Greene.
Oxford University Press.Various editions.
Yale Edition of the Works of Samuel
Johnson. Yale University Press. 1958–2004.
James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson. Various
publishers.
Sir John Hawkins, The Life of Samuel Johnson.
University of Georgia Press, 2009.
Peter Martin, Samuel Johnson: A Biography.
Belknap Press, 2008.
Jeffrey Meyers, Samuel Johnson:The Struggle. Basic
Books, 2008.
John Wain, Samuel Johnson. Viking Press, 1975.
Related Programs
Lecture: “Samuel Johnson and
His Famous Dictionary”
May 27 (Wednesday), 7:30 p.m.
survey all of the known portraits of Johnson,
including the famous portrait by Reynolds now at
The Huntington.
Loren Rothschild, a noted collector of the works of
Samuel Johnson, will talk about how Johnson
created his great dictionary.
Lecture: “Sam and Jamie:
‘No Theory Please, We’re British’ ”
Sept. 9 (Wednesday), 7:30 p.m.
Lecture: “Johnson Agonistes:
Portraying Samuel Johnson”
June 8 (Monday), 7:30 p.m.
Paul Ruxin, a corporate lawyer and Johnson
collector, will discuss the famous relationship
between Johnson and James Boswell.
Richard Wendorf, Stanford Calderwood Director
and Librarian of the Boston Athenaeum, will
All lectures take place in Friends’ Hall and are free to the public.
No reservations required.