Discussion: The Life of Samuel Johnson

Author: James Boswell

Description: The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. is widely regarded as one of the greatest biographies in English literature. This monumental work chronicles the life, wit, and intellectual legacy of Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709–1784), the renowned lexicographer, poet, critic, and conversationalist, best known for his A Dictionary of the English Language (1755). Written by Boswell, a Scottish lawyer and Johnson’s devoted friend, the biography is as much a portrait of 18th-century London’s literary culture as it is of Johnson himself. Its innovative approach—blending meticulous detail, personal anecdotes, and verbatim conversations—set a new standard for biographical writing, earning praise for its vividness and depth, though some criticize its selective portrayal.Boswell met Johnson in 1763 at a London bookshop, beginning a friendship that shaped the biography. Drawing on journals, letters, and interviews with Johnson’s circle, Boswell reconstructs his subject’s life from childhood in Lichfield to his death. The narrative covers Johnson’s early struggles with poverty, his failed schoolmaster career, and his rise as a literary figure through works like The Rambler (1750–1752) and Rasselas (1759). It details his compilation of the Dictionary, a Herculean task that defined English lexicography, and his later Lives of the Poets (1779–1781). Boswell also highlights Johnson’s social life, including his role in founding The Club, a literary society with figures like Edmund Burke and Joshua Reynolds.

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