“The Life of Dr. Johnson” by ‘James Buswell’ is a monumental work in biographical Literature. It was first published in London in 1791. Dr. Johnson also known as Samuel Johnson was an English poet, essayist and lexicographer who produced a pioneering and influential Dictionary of the English Language.
James Buswell was a Scottish writer and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary, the English writer Samuel Johnson, which is commonly said to be the greatest biography written in the English language.
On 16 May 1763, as a 22-year-old Scot visiting London, Boswell first met John’s son in the book shop of Johnson in the book shop of Johnson’s friend Tom Davies. They quickly became friends. From the age of 20, Baswell kept a series of Journals thoroughly detailing his day-to-day experience Johnson in commenting on Baswell’s excessive note-taking, playfully,
“One would think the man had
been hired to spy upon me.”
Johnson was born in 1709 in Lichfield, England, his parents belonged to the middle class. However, he also quickly begins to show signs of exceptional intelligence memorizing some of the contents of the Book of Common Prayer. He begins to write poems and translations when he is 16. Johnson enrolled at Oxford University in 1728, where he honed his skills in Greek and Latin and writing poetry. However, after their years at university, Johnson runs out of money and is forced to return home without a degree.
Back home in Lichfield, Johnson goes through a period of physical and mental anguish. He tries to become a school teacher but is rejected because he does not have a degree. With the help of his friend, Thomas Warren, a book published, Johnson began producing translated and annotated books. After Warren’s death, Johnson marries his widow, Elizabeth, who is 20 years senior from his.
In 1735, Johnson opened a school which failed soon after. One of Johnson’s students invited him to London and helped his secure work writing for The Gentleman’s Magazine. Johnson’s contribution to the magazine includes an allegoric poem London which earns him praise and comparison to England’s leading poet, Alexander Pope.
Around this time Johnson also finishes a play, the historical tragedy, Irene. Johnson’s reputation as a Brilliant writer grows by leaps and bounds. He also earns the reputation as an eccentric due to the tics that are probably symptoms of Tourette Syndrome and has periods of depression.
In 1746, some publishers pitched Johnson the idea of writing a complete dictionary of the English language. Johnson worked on the Dictionary for eight years with the help of a small secret rail staff, and it was finally published in 1755. In anticipation of the publication of Dictionary Oxford University awarded Johnson an Honorary degree. In addition, when George III acceded to the British throne, he awarded Johnson a pension for the rest of his life.
During this period Johnson also published the novel Rasselas Prince of Abyssinia and The Rambler, a collection of essays.
Boswell meets Johnson in 1763 and they form an instead friendship. Boswell sees Johnson whenever he is in London on business and the two men enjoy frequent conversation and meals together, often in the presence of the other member of the Literary Club which Johnson forms in 1764. In 1773, Johnson travels to Scotland to visit Boswell at home.
By the 1770s Johnson was showing signs of deteriorating health but continued to work, his later productions included an annotated edition of the works of Shakespeare and the ten-volume Live of the English Poets. In 1783, Johnson had a stroke and momentarily lost his ability to speak, although he is still able to write about his Melancholy and Fear of Death. Johnson died on December 13, 1784, and Boswell concludes the biography by expressing his view that Johnson’s works and reputation will endure.
Thus Boswell’s “Life Of Dr. Johnson” is the best biography of English Literature. Through this biography, Boswell not only praises Johnson but shows the entirety of his lie the good and the bad.
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