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Samuel Johnson: Literary Giant of the 18th Century
Exhibitions
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The famous "Blinking Sam" portrait of Samuel Johnson, painted by his friend Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1775. © Huntington Library.
Samuel Johnson (far right) converses with his friend James Boswell (center) and author Oliver Goldsmith in an engraving titled "The Mitre Tavern," 1880. Courtesy of Loren Rothschild.
A first edition of Johnson's famous Dictionary of the English Language, published in 1755 in two volumes. Courtesy of Loren Rothschild.
Past eventSat., May 23, 2009, 12 a.m.–Mon., Sept. 21, 2009, 11:59 p.m.
Library, West Hall
Samuel Johnson: Literary Giant of the 18th Century, a new exhibition opening May 23 and continuing through Sept. 21 in the West Hall of the Library, tells the story of Johnson's life and achievements through a display of rare books, manuscripts, and portraits drawn from The Huntington's holdings and from the Loren and Frances Rothschild Collection.
New exhibition celebrates Samuel Johnson, author of the first English dictionary
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)—one of the greatest moralists, poets, biographers, critics, essayists, and correspondents of all time—so dominated literary and intellectual life in the last half of the 18th century that the era is frequently referred to as the “Age of Johnson.” As a conversationalist and writer he was so insightful and adept in the use of language that only Shakespeare and the Bible are quoted more often.
Samuel Johnson: Literary Giant of the 18th Century, a new exhibition opening May 23 and continuing through Sept. 21 in the West Hall of the Library, tells the story of Johnson’s life and achievements through a display of rare books, manuscripts, and portraits drawn from The Huntington’s holdings and from the Loren and Frances Rothschild Collection. The exhibition is curated by noted Johnson scholar O. M. “Skip” Brack, professor emeritus of English at Arizona State University.
One of the earliest English authors to make his living solely by his writings, Johnson spent his early years, after arriving in London in 1737, writing mostly for the Grub Street booksellers. Needing a large project that would produce a steady income, he accepted a commission to write an English dictionary. On April 15, 1755, after Johnson had labored over it for nine years, a consortium of London booksellers published, in two large volumes, 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. This colossal achievement brought Johnson fame not only in England but across Europe.
A first edition of the Dictionary in its original binding will be one of the highlights of the exhibition. Other treasures to be displayed are the famous “Blinking Sam” portrait of Johnson by his friend Sir Joshua Reynolds, a portion of one of Johnson’s diaries, and a number of personal letters.
Johnson’s prolific output as a writer included his famous poem (1749), more than 200 essays for his twice-weekly publication, (1750–52), and the allegorical fable (1759). His edition of Shakespeare (1765) and the (1779–81) secured his fame as a literary critic and biographer.
