Samuel Johnson: The Life of an AuthorHarvard University Press, 2009 M07 1 - 384 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
Results 1-5 of 63
... essay recommending a forthcoming English dictionary . Although the essayist has not yet seen this " great and desirable " work , he expresses the oblig- ation of the republic of letters to the author , one Mr. Johnson . " Per- fection ...
... essay begins with a personal reference— " I heard the other day with great pleasure from my worthy friend Mr. Dodsley " ( the publisher of The World ) —and is never shy about showing off the first person . Moreover , the writer ...
... essay he wrote for The Adventurer in 1753 , on " The Age of Authors , " makes fun of any hope of patronage : " it is not to be expected , that at a time when every man writes , any man will patronize ; and , accordingly , there is not ...
... essays began to be published the following year , yet interested readers soon found him out through the publish- ing grapevine as well as his style . By the time that the series ended , in 1752 , some critics thought it a masterpiece of ...
... essays in The World had been written right to the mo- ment ; Chesterfield keeps a sharp eye on the contemporary literary marketplace as well as on the slang that the smartest people are using . Johnson does not mention the market or ...
Contents
11 | |
34 | |
48 | |
Preferments Gate The Vanity of Human Wishes | 86 |
Man of Letters A Dictionary of the English Language | 103 |
The Living World The Rambler | 145 |
Reclaiming Imagination Rasselas | 173 |
The Theater of Mind The Plays of William Shakespeare | 198 |
Journeying Westward Political Writings A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland | 234 |
Touching the Shore The Lives of the English Poets | 259 |
The Life to Come Johnsons Endings | 295 |
Abbreviation | 307 |
Notes | 309 |
Index | 363 |