91 Facts About Dr Johnson

Samuel Johnson, often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer.

Dr Johnson was a devout Anglican, and a committed Tory.

James Boswell's Life of Samuel Dr Johnson was selected by Dr Johnson biographer Walter Jackson Bate as "the most famous single work of biographical art in the whole of literature".

In 1763 he befriended James Boswell, with whom he travelled to Scotland, as Dr Johnson described in A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland.

The infant Dr Johnson did not cry, and there were concerns for his health.

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Dr Johnson's aunt exclaimed that "she would not have picked such a poor creature up in the street".

Dr Johnson's health improved and he was put to wet-nurse with Joan Marklew.

Dr Johnson displayed signs of great intelligence as a child, and his parents, to his later disgust, would show off his "newly acquired accomplishments".

Dr Johnson's education began at the age of three, and was provided by his mother, who had him memorise and recite passages from the Book of Common Prayer.

Dr Johnson excelled at his studies and was promoted to the upper school at the age of nine.

At the age of 16, Dr Johnson stayed with his cousins, the Fords, at Pedmore, Worcestershire.

Dr Johnson's tutor asked him to produce a Latin translation of Alexander Pope's Messiah as a Christmas exercise.

Dr Johnson completed half of the translation in one afternoon and the rest the following morning.

Dr Johnson spent the rest of his time studying, even during the Christmas holiday.

Dr Johnson drafted a "plan of study" called "Adversaria", which he left unfinished, and used his time to learn French while working on his Greek.

Towards the end of Dr Johnson's stay at Oxford, his tutor, Jorden, left Pembroke and was replaced by William Adams.

Dr Johnson left behind many books that he had borrowed from his father because he could not afford to transport them, and because he hoped to return to Oxford.

Dr Johnson was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1765 by Trinity College Dublin and in 1775 by the University of Oxford.

Dr Johnson experienced bouts of mental anguish and physical pain during years of illness; his tics and gesticulations associated with Tourette syndrome became more noticeable and were often commented upon.

Dr Johnson eventually found employment as undermaster at a school in Market Bosworth, run by Sir Wolstan Dixie, who allowed Dr Johnson to teach without a degree.

Dr Johnson continued to look for a position at a Lichfield school.

Dr Johnson read Abbe Joachim Le Grand's French translations, and thought that a shorter version might be "useful and profitable".

The Reverend William Shaw claims that "the first advances probably proceeded from her, as her attachment to Dr Johnson was in opposition to the advice and desire of all her relations, " Dr Johnson was inexperienced in such relationships, but the well-to-do widow encouraged him and promised to provide for him with her substantial savings.

Dr Johnson had only three pupils: Lawrence Offley, George Garrick, and the 18-year-old David Garrick, who later became one of the most famous actors of his day.

Dr Johnson was penniless and pessimistic about their travel, but fortunately for them, Garrick had connections in London, and the two were able to stay with his distant relative, Richard Norris.

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Dr Johnson soon moved to Greenwich near the Golden Hart Tavern to finish Irene.

The name Columbia, a poetic name for America coined by Dr Johnson, first appears in a 1738 weekly publication of the debates of the British parliament in The Gentleman's Magazine.

Dr Johnson claimed that he could finish the project in three years.

Dr Johnson had to employ a number of assistants for the copying and mechanical work, which filled the house with incessant noise and clutter.

Dr Johnson was always busy, and kept hundreds of books around him.

Seven years after first meeting Dr Johnson to go over the work, Chesterfield wrote two anonymous essays in The World recommending the Dictionary.

Dr Johnson complained that the English language lacked structure and argued in support of the dictionary.

Dr Johnson did not like the tone of the essays, and he felt that Chesterfield had not fulfilled his obligations as the work's patron.

Besides working on the Dictionary, Dr Johnson wrote numerous essays, sermons, and poems during these nine years.

In particular, Dr Johnson emphasises "the helpless vulnerability of the individual before the social context" and the "inevitable self-deception by which human beings are led astray".

Tetty Dr Johnson was ill during most of her time in London, and in 1752 she decided to return to the countryside while Dr Johnson was busy working on his Dictionary.

Dr Johnson wrote a sermon in her honour, to be read at her funeral, but Taylor refused to read it, for reasons which are unknown.

Dr Johnson felt guilty about the poverty in which he believed he had forced Tetty to live, and blamed himself for neglecting her.

Dr Johnson became outwardly discontented, and his diary was filled with prayers and laments over her death which continued until his own.

Dr Johnson's was his primary motivation, and her death hindered his ability to complete his work.

Richardson, who had previously lent Dr Johnson money, sent him six guineas to show his good will, and the two became friends.

Langton was a scholar and an admirer of Dr Johnson who persuaded his way into a meeting with Dr Johnson which led to a long friendship.

Dr Johnson met Murphy during the summer of 1754 after Murphy came to Dr Johnson about the accidental republishing of the Rambler No 190, and the two became friends.

Dr Johnson's was a minor poet who was poor and becoming blind, two conditions that Johnson attempted to change by providing room for her and paying for a failed cataract surgery.

Philosophical disagreements erupted over the purpose of the publication when the Seven Years' War began and Dr Johnson started to write polemical essays attacking the war.

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Dr Johnson later attempted to produce a new edition of her works, but even with his support they were unable to find enough interest to follow through with its publication.

The debt was repaid by Jacob Tonson, who had contracted Dr Johnson to publish Shakespeare, and this encouraged Dr Johnson to finish his edition to repay the favour.

The "little story book", as Dr Johnson described it, describes the life of Prince Rasselas and Nekayah, his sister, who are kept in a place called the Happy Valley in the land of Abyssinia.

When Dr Johnson questioned if the pension would force him to promote a political agenda or support various officials, he was told by Bute that the pension "is not given you for anything you are to do, but for what you have done".

Around the spring of 1763, Dr Johnson formed "The Club", a social group that included his friends Reynolds, Burke, Garrick, Goldsmith and others .

The plays themselves were in a version that Dr Johnson felt was closest to the original, based on his analysis of the manuscript editions.

Years later, Edmond Malone, an important Shakespearean scholar and friend of Dr Johnson's, stated that Dr Johnson's "vigorous and comprehensive understanding threw more light on his authour than all his predecessors had done".

The King, upon hearing that Dr Johnson would visit the library, commanded that Barnard introduce him to Dr Johnson.

Dr Johnson opposed "self-professed Patriots" in general, but valued what he considered "true" patriotism.

Dr Johnson argued that in emigrating to America, colonists had "voluntarily resigned the power of voting", but they still retained "virtual representation" in Parliament.

Dr Johnson denounced English supporters of American separatists as "traitors to this country", and hoped that the matter would be settled without bloodshed, but he felt confident that it would end with "English superiority and American obedience".

Years before, Dr Johnson had stated that the French and Indian War was a conflict between "two robbers" of Native American lands, and that neither deserved to live there.

Tom Davies, William Strahan and Thomas Cadell had asked Dr Johnson to create this final major work, the Lives of the English Poets, for which he asked 200 guineas, an amount significantly less than the price he could have demanded.

Dr Johnson was shocked by the death of Levet, who had resided at Dr Johnson's London home since 1762.

Shortly afterwards Dr Johnson caught a cold that developed into bronchitis and lasted for several months.

Dr Johnson's health was further complicated by "feeling forlorn and lonely" over Levet's death, and by the deaths of his friend Thomas Lawrence and his housekeeper Williams.

Dr Johnson had surgery for gout, and his remaining friends, including novelist Fanny Burney, came to keep him company.

Dr Johnson believed that the best poetry relied on contemporary language, and he disliked the use of decorative or purposefully archaic language.

Dr Johnson was suspicious of the poetic language used by Milton, whose blank verse he believed would inspire many bad imitations.

Also, Dr Johnson opposed the poetic language of his contemporary Thomas Gray.

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In London, his first imitation of Juvenal, Dr Johnson uses the poetic form to express his political opinion and, as befits a young writer, approaches the topic in a playful and almost joyous manner.

In particular, Dr Johnson emphasises God's infinite love and shows that happiness can be attained through virtuous action.

When it came to biography, Dr Johnson disagreed with Plutarch's use of biography to praise and to teach morality.

Furthermore, Dr Johnson believed that biography should not be limited to the most famous and that the lives of lesser individuals, too, were significant; thus in his Lives of the Poets he chose both great and lesser poets.

Dr Johnson considered the genre of autobiography and diaries, including his own, as one having the most significance; in Idler 84 he explains how a writer of an autobiography would be the least likely to distort his own life.

Dr Johnson's works were dominated with his intent to use them for literary criticism.

Dr Johnson did not attempt to create schools of theories to analyse the aesthetics of literature.

When it came to Shakespeare's plays, Dr Johnson emphasised the role of the reader in understanding language: "If Shakespeare has difficulties above other writers, it is to be imputed to the nature of his work, which required the use of common colloquial language, and consequently admitted many phrases allusive, elliptical, and proverbial, such as we speak and hear every hour without observing them".

However, Dr Johnson did not only defend Shakespeare; he discussed Shakespeare's faults, including his lack of morality, his vulgarity, his carelessness in crafting plots, and his occasional inattentiveness when choosing words or word order.

Dr Johnson believed that an editor should not alter the text in such a way.

Beyond appearance, Adam Smith claimed that "Dr Johnson knew more books than any man alive", while Edmund Burke thought that if Dr Johnson were to join Parliament, he "certainly would have been the greatest speaker that ever was there".

Dr Johnson was a devout, conservative Anglican and a compassionate man who supported a number of poor friends under his own roof, even when unable to fully provide for himself.

Dr Johnson did not let his own faith prejudice him against others, and had respect for those of other denominations who demonstrated a commitment to Christ's teachings.

Dr Johnson was an opponent of slavery on moral grounds, and once proposed a toast to the "next rebellion of the negroes in the West Indies".

Beside his beliefs concerning humanity, Dr Johnson is known for his love of cats, especially his own two cats, Hodge and Lily.

Dr Johnson was known as a staunch Tory; he admitted to sympathies for the Jacobite cause during his younger years but, by the reign of George III, he came to accept the Hanoverian Succession.

Dr Johnson had several health problems, including childhood tuberculous scrofula resulting in deep facial scarring, deafness in one ear and blindness in one eye, gout, testicular cancer, and a stroke in his final year that left him unable to speak; his autopsy indicated that he had pulmonary fibrosis along with cardiac failure probably due to hypertension, a condition then unknown.

Dr Johnson displayed signs consistent with several diagnoses, including depression and Tourette syndrome.

Boswell claimed that Dr Johnson "felt himself overwhelmed with an horrible melancholia, with perpetual irritation, fretfulness, and impatience; and with a dejection, gloom, and despair, which made existence misery".

Early on, when Dr Johnson was unable to pay off his debts, he began to work with professional writers and identified his own situation with theirs.

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Dr Johnson was, in the words of Steven Lynn, "more than a well-known writer and scholar"; he was a celebrity, for the activities and the state of his health in his later years were constantly reported in various journals and newspapers, and when there was nothing to report, something was invented.

In criticism, Dr Johnson had a lasting influence, although not everyone viewed him favourably.

Later, Dr Johnson's works came into favour, and Matthew Arnold, in his Six Chief Lives from Dr Johnson's "Lives of the Poets", considered the Lives of Milton, Dryden, Pope, Addison, Swift, and Gray as "points which stand as so many natural centres, and by returning to which we can always find our way again".

Bate in the finest insight on Dr Johnson I know, emphasised that no other writer is so obsessed by the realisation that the mind is an activity, one that will turn to destructiveness of the self or of others unless it is directed to labour.

Half of Dr Johnson's surviving correspondence, together with some of his manuscripts, editions of his books, paintings and other items associated with him are in the Donald and Mary Hyde Collection of Dr Samuel Dr Johnson, housed at Houghton Library at Harvard University since 2003.

In 2009, Dr Johnson was among the ten people selected by the Royal Mail for their "Eminent Britons" commemorative postage stamp issue.