A one†‘volume collection of the prose and poetry of eighteenth†‘century Britain's pre†‘eminent lexicographer, critic, biographer, and poet Samuel JohnsonSamuel Johnson was eighteenth†‘century Britain’s preeminent man of letters, and his influence endures to this day. He excelled as a moral and literary critic, biographer, lexicographer, and poet. This anthology, designed to make Johnson’s essential works accessible to students and general readers, draws its texts f...

A brief essay on the life and genius of the prolific eighteenth-century English author, followed by a selection of his poetry, letters, and a novella.Under the pen name "Dr. Johnson," English writer Samuel Johnson was a biographer, essayist, lexicographer, literary critic, moralist, playwright, poet, and travel writer. The son of a bookseller, he made so many contributions to the English language that he is regarded as one of the greatest figures of eighteenth-cent...

In Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson, one of the towering figures of English literature is revealed with unparalleled immediacy and originality. While Johnson’s Dictionary remains a monument of scholarship, and his essays and criticism command continuing respect, we owe our knowledge of the man himself to this biography. Through a series of wonderfully detailed anecdotes, Johnson emerges as a sociable figure with a huge appetite for life, crossing swords with other great e...

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary, published in 1755, marked a milestone in a language in desperate need of standards. No English dictionary before it had devoted so much space to everyday words, been so thorough in its definitions, or illustrated usage by quoting from Shakespeare and other great writers. Johnson's was the dictionary used by Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, Wordsworth and Coleridge, the Brontës and the Brownings, Thomas Hardy and Oscar Wilde. This new edition, edited by David Cr...

The Life of Samuel Johnson is a biography written by James Boswell, published in 1791. It is considered one of the greatest biographies in the English language, and provides a detailed and vivid portrait of the renowned writer and lexicographer Samuel Johnson.Boswell, a Scottish lawyer and writer, first met Johnson in 1763, and the two men became close friends. Over the years, Boswell took extensive notes on Johnson's conversations and habits, and these notes became the basis for his biogr...

In his seminal work, "Preface to Shakespeare," Samuel Johnson offers a profound exploration of Shakespeare's plays, melding literary criticism with a rich historical context. Johnson's eloquent prose reflects the 18th-century Enlightenment ideals, emphasizing reason and human experience while simultaneously celebrating the complexities of Shakespeare's characters and themes. He deftly navigates the interplay between the moral implications of Shakespeare's narratives and the artistic libert...

This volume contains a generous selection from the essays Johnson published twice weekly as 'The Rambler' in the early 1750s. It was here that he first created the literary character and forged the distinctive prose style that established him as a public figure. Also included here is the best of Johnson's later journalism, including essays from the periodicals 'The Adventurer' and 'The Idler'.

In "Lives of the English Poets: Waller, Milton, Cowley," Samuel Johnson presents a meticulously crafted exploration of three pivotal figures in English poetry. Employing a distinctive literary style that blends biographical insight with literary criticism, Johnson offers profound evaluations of Edmund Waller, John Milton, and Abraham Cowley. The text not only delves into their poetic contributions but also situates them within the broader context of 17th-century English literature, highlig...

When Samuel Johnson unicycled around Australia, he met some awesome people. And before we had to lock down, he and his other sister, Hilde, were travelling the country talking at schools, community groups and at the side of busy streets to spread their message about how to kick cancer in the face hole. But in the process they connected and listened as people shared their own stories - not just about how cancer impacted them, but about love, fighting fires, making families out of choice not...

Charming, vibrant, witty and edifying, The Life of Samuel Johnson is a work of great obsession and boundless reverence. The literary critic Samuel Johnson was 54 when he first encountered Boswell; the friendship that developed spawned one of the greatest biographies in the history of world literature. The book is full of humorous anecdote and rich characterisation, and paints a vivid picture of 18th-century London, peopled by prominent personalities of the time such as Sir Joshua Reynolds,...

He's one of English literature's all-time heavyweights, but most of what we know about Samuel Johnson, the man, comes from his friend Boswell’s hearty anecdotal biog.Notoriously and self-confessedly intemperate, Boswell shared with Johnson a huge appetite for life and threw equal energy into recording its every aspect in minute but telling detail. This irrepressible Scotsman was 'always studying human nature and making exper

In "A Grammar of the English Tongue," Samuel Johnson meticulously examines the structural and syntactical intricacies of the English language, offering readers a comprehensive insight into its grammatical rules and conventions. Written in a pedagogical style that combines clarity with erudition, Johnson's work not only serves as an instruction manual for proper English usage but also reflects the linguistic debates of the 18th century. This book exists at the intersection of linguistic inn...