Samuel JohnsonHarvard University Press, 1998 - 372 pages He was a servant to the public, a writer for hire. He was a hero, an author adding to the glory of his nation. But can a writer be both hack and hero? The career of Samuel Johnson, recounted here by Lawrence Lipking, proves that the two can be one. And it further proves, in its enduring interest for readers, that academic fashions today may be a bit hasty in pronouncing the "death of the author." |
From inside the book
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... scholar beyond compare.42 If Johnson enjoys some irony at Imlac's expense , he also agrees with him . An author is a scholar who shares his knowledge ; that gift is his point of pride . Moreover , it qualifies authors for their ...
... scholar against the combined forces of foreign academies in a con- test for the honor of his nation . If humility is one note of the Plan , the vaulting ambition — almost the megalomania — of a lexicographer is another . " When I survey ...
... scholar . As Johnson ponders the implications of Chester- field's support , in the Plan , he drifts into a different age of author- ship . " I had read indeed of times , in which princes and statesmen thought it part of their honour to ...
Contents
the Western Islands of Scotland | 234 |
The Lives of the English Poets | 259 |
Johnsons Endings | 295 |
Copyright | |
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