In my last post I was writing about the relationship between Johnson and Richard Savage that puzzled people as much at the time as it does today. Boswell mentions John Hawkins opinion that Johnson, ‘‘being an admirer of genteel manners, was captivated by the address and demeanour of Savage, who as to his exterior, was… Continue Reading

Three months after Johnson had moved to London to attempt to become a ‘dramatick writer,’ he returned to Lichfield where he had left Tetty, and took her back to London with him. Tetty’s daughter who had been living with her was left with relatives in the country. Boswell remarks that, ‘As there is something pleasingly… Continue Reading

Other than succumbing to melancholy while he was in Pembroke College, according to Boswell, Samuel Johnson ‘…was generally seen lounging at the College gate, with a circle of young students round him, whom he was entertaining with wit, and keeping from their studies, if not spiriting them up to rebellion against the College discipline, which… Continue Reading

In 1728, Johnson, thought to have been supported by one of his school friends, went to Pembroke College in Oxford aged 19. His father, Michael, went with him on his first day there. Boswell writes that Johnson’s figure and manner appeared strange to them; [the tutors] but he behaved modestly, and sat silent, till upon… Continue Reading

James Boswell writes that Johnson was born in Lichfield, in Staffordshire, on the 18th of September 1709, and his baptism was performed on the day of his birth. His father was Michael Johnson, a bookseller and stationer. His mother was Sarah Ford ‘descended from an ancient race of substantial yeomanry in Warwickshire.’ Of Samuel’s father,… Continue Reading