Doctor Johnson
– Doctor Dictionary
For Doctor Johnson, London was the centre of the universe. He is quoted in his biography as having said “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford”.
Dr. Samuel Johnson was born in Litchfield, England in 1709. His father was a bookseller and early exposure to books showed the young Johnson to be quite intelligent and of an academic bent. In 1728 he travelled to London to attend Oxford, but after little more than a year, he ran out of money and had to return home without his degree. This failure to attain a degree would haunt Johnson as he tried unsuccessfully to get several teaching positions. Johnson had been a sickly child, and he also had some unusual nervous habits and tics that persisted into adulthood and that were often commented upon by the people he encountered. Contemporary observers suspect Johnson had some degree of Tourette syndrome which made public speaking and teaching somewhat difficult for him; writing thus became the most acceptable outlet for his vast knowledge and intellectual curiosity. Dr. Johnson married Elizabeth Jervis Porter, a widow who was quite a bit older and wealthier than he was, and he moved to London in the 1730s to try his fortunes as a writer. Johnson wrote prolifically for several London magazines, tried his hand at poems, plays, and political commentary, all with modest success. Dr. Johnson found his fame when he was approached by a publisher to write an authoritative dictionary, a project that would eventually become the famed “A Dictionary of the English Language”. This was a huge undertaking that would occupy Johnson for almost 9 years, which is simply astounding when you consider that the comparable French dictionary of the times took 40 scholars more than 40 years to complete. When this amazing work was published in 1755, it was a massive volume with over 42,000 entries and sold for the equivalent of £350. Dr. Johnson got his degree, when Oxford awarded him an MA in honour of this magnificent effort.
Doctor Johnson’s House Address: 17 Gough Square, City, EC4A 3DE Telephone: 020 7353 3745
Photo courtesy: ell brown
Return from Doctor Johnson to Famous London Residents
Return from Doctor Johnson to Best London Attractions
|
