Samuel Johnson image
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Born in September 18, 1709 / Died in December 13, 1784 / United Kingdom / English

Bibliography

Other info : Furtherreading

Selected Books

  • London: A Poem in Imitation of the Third Satire of Juvenal, anonymous (London: Printed for R. Doddesley [sic], 1738).
  • Marmor Norfolciense; or, An Essay on an Ancient Prophetical Inscription, in Monkish Rhyme, Lately Discover'd Near Lynn in Norfolk, as Probus Britannicus (London: Printed for J. Brett, 1739).
  • A Compleat Vindication of the Licensers of the Stage from the Malicious and Scandalous Aspersions of Mr. Brooke, Author of Gustavus Vasa, with a Proposal for Making the Office of Licenser More Extensive and Effectual, by an Impartial Hand (London: Printed for C. Corbett, 1739).
  • Proposals for Printing a Medicinal Dictionary (London, 1741).
  • An Account of the Life of Mr. Richard Savage, Son of the Earl Rivers, anonymous (London: Printed for J. Roberts, 1744).
  • An Account of the Life of John Philip Barretier, Who Was Master of Five Languages at the Age of Nine Years (London: Printed for J. Roberts, 1744).
  • Miscellaneous Observations on the Tragedy of Macbeth, with Remarks on Sir T. H.'s Edition of Shakespear; to Which Is Affix'd Proposals for a New Edition of Shakeshear [sic] with a Specimen (London: Printed for E. Cave & sold by J. Roberts, 1745).
  • The Plan of a Dictionary of the English Language, Addressed to the Right Honourable Philip Dormer, Earl of Chesterfield, One of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, anonymous (London: Printed for J. & P. Knapton, T. Longman & T. Shewell, C. Hitch, A. Millar & R. Dodsley, 1747).
  • Prologue and Epilogue, Spoken at the Opening of the Theatre in Drury-Lane (London: Printed by E. Cave & sold by M. Cooper & R. Dodsley, 1747).
  • The Vanity of Human Wishes: The Tenth Satire of Juvenal, Imitated by Samuel Johnson (London: Printed for R. Dodsley & sold by M. Cooper, 1749); revised version, in A Collection of Poems by Several Hands, volume 4 (London: Printed for R. Dodsley, 1755).
  • Irene: A Tragedy, as It Is Acted at the Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane (London: Printed for R. Dodsley & sold by M. Cooper, 1749).
  • A New Prologue Spoken by Mr. Garrick, Thursday, April 5, 1750, at the Representation of Comus, for the Benefit of Mrs. Elizabeth Foster, Milton's Granddaughter, and only Surviving Descendant (London: Printed for J. Payne & J. Bouquet, 1750).
  • The Rambler, 8 volumes (Edinburgh: Sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright & the other booksellers, 1750-1752; revised edition, 4 volumes, Dublin, 1756; New York: Printed for Samuel Campbell, 1800).
  • A Dictionary of the English Language, in Which the Words are Deduced from Their Originals, and Illustrated in Their Different Significations by Examples from the Best Writers; to Which are Prefixed a History of the Language and an English Grammar, 2 volumes (London: Printed by W. Strahan for J. & P. Knapton; T. & T. Longman; C. Hitch & L. Hawes; A. Millar; & R. & J. Dodsley, 1755; 4 volumes, Philadelphia: Moses Thomas, 1818).
  • A Dictionary of the English Language ... Abstracted from the Folio Edition, 2 volumes (London: Printed for J. Knapton; C. Hitch & L. Hawes; A. Millar; R. & J. Dodsley; M. & T. Longman, 1756; 1 volume, Philadelphia: J. Johnson, 1805).
  • Proposals for Printing, by Subscription, the Dramatick Works of William Shakespeare, Corrected and Illustrated by Samuel Johnson (London: J. & R. Tonson; J. Knapton; C. Hitch & L. Hawes; & M. & T. Longman, 1756).
  • The Prince of Abissinia: A Tale, 2 volumes (London: Printed for R. & J. Dodsley & W. Johnston, 1759; revised, London, 1759); republished as The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia: An Asiatic Tale (Philadelphia: Printed by Robert Bell, 1768); modern edition, edited by Geoffrey Tillotson and Brian Jenkins (London: Oxford University Press, 1971).
  • The Idler, 2 volumes (London: Printed for J. Newbery, 1761; Philadelphia: Printed by Tesson & Lee for S. F. Bradford & J. Conrad, 1803).
  • Mr. Johnson's Preface to His Edition of Shakespear's Plays (London: J. & R. Tonson, H. Woodfall, J. Rivington & others, 1765).
  • The False Alarm (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1770).
  • Thoughts on the Late Transactions Respecting Falkland's Islands, anonymous (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1771).
  • The Patriot, Addressed to the Electors of Great Britain, anonymous (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1774).
  • Taxation No Tyranny: An Answer to the Resolutions and Address of the American Congress, anonymous (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1775).
  • Political Tracts (London: Printed for W. Strahan & T. Cadell, 1775).
  • A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (London: Printed for W. Strahan & T. Cadell, 1775; Baltimore: P. H. Nicklin / Boston: Farrand, Mallory, 1810).
  • Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, to the Works of the English Poets, 10 volumes (London: Printed by J. Nichols for C. Bathurst, J. Buckland, W. Strahan & others, 1779-1781); republished as Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets; with Critical Observations on Their Works, 2 volumes (Philadelphia: Benjamin Johnson, 1803).
  • Prayers and Meditations, Composed by Samuel Johnson LL.D., and Published from His Manuscripts, edited by George Strahan (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1785).
  • Debates in Parliament by Samuel Johnson LL.D., edited by George Chalmers, 2 volumes (London: Printed for John Stockdale, 1787).
  • An Account of the Life of Dr Samuel Johnson, from his Birth to his Eleventh Year, Written by Himself, edited by Richard Wright (London: Richard Phillips, 1805).

Editions and Collections

  • The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D., 9 volumes (Oxford: Talboys & Wheeler, 1825).
  • The Lives of the Poets, edited by G. B. Hill, 3 volumes (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905; New York: Octagon Press, 1967).
  • The Poems of Samuel Johnson, edited by D. Nichol Smith and E. L. McAdam (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1941; revised, 1962).
  • The Yale Edition of the Works of Samuel Johnson, 15 volumes, continuing, includes Poems (volume 6, 1964), edited by McAdam and George Milne (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1958- ).
  • Samuel Johnson: Selected Poetry and Prose, edited by Frank Brady and W. K. Wimsatt (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977).
  • Samuel Johnson on Literature, edited by Marlies K. Danziger (New York: Ungar, 1979).

Play Production

  • Mahomet and Irene, London, Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, 6 February 1749.

Other

  • The Messiah, translated (into Latin) by Johnson, in A Miscellany of Poems by Several Hands, Publish'd by J. Husbands (Oxford: Printed by L. Lichfield, 1731).
  • A Voyage to Abyssinia, by Father Jerome Lobo, a Portuguese Jesuit.... With a Continuation of the History of Abyssinia down to the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century, and Fifteen Dissertations by Mr. Legrand, from the French, translated by Johnson (London: Printed for A. Bettesworth & C. Hitch, 1735).
  • Introduction to The Harleian Miscellany, edited by W. Oldys, 8 volumes (London, 1744-1746).
  • The Plays of William Shakespeare, in Eight Volumes, with the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators; to Which Are Added Notes by Sam. Johnson, edited by Johnson, 8 volumes (London: Printed for J. & R. Tonson, C. Corbet, H. Woodfall, J. Rivington, R. Baldwin, L. Hawes, Clark & Collins, W. Johnston, T. Calson, T. Lownds & the executors of B. Dodd, 1765).
  • Anna Williams, Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, includes a preface and poems by Johnson (London, 1766).

Letters

  • The Letters of Samuel Johnson, edited by R. W. Chapman, 3 volumes (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1952).



Over forty holograph manuscripts of Johnson's poems survive, and there are also many contemporary transcripts of his works by others. The Hyde Collection at Somerville, N.J., the largest collection of Johnson's manuscript poetry, includes holographs of The Vanity of Human Wishes, sections from London and Irene, and many of Johnson's other poems. A complete draft of Irene, along with a transcript by Bennet Langton, is in the British Museum. Other manuscripts of individual poems are scattered in various locations, including the Bodleian Library and Pembroke College, Oxford, and the Yale University Library. For further information see J. D. Fleeman, A Preliminary Handlist of Documents & Manuscripts of Samuel Johnson (Oxford: Oxford Bibliographical Society/Bodleian Library, 1967).