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
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... virtue like modesty and humility . But even the definition of the word suggests a constant struggle : " Voluntary humiliation ; descent from superiority ; voluntary submission to equality with inferiours . " To some extent that stooping ...
... virtues of a classical education been more aggressively displayed . Summoning all the texts that have taught him to stand up for authors , Johnson authors himself . Yet the legend that has grown around the letter to Chesterfield in ...
... virtue thrives on fame and that great talents deserve great rewards . " An unsubdued and invincible desire of honour and praise is planted in our hearts , which I would believe wise Nature ( for she does nothing in vain ) has instilled ...
... virtue and of piety , perhaps unparalleled in the powers of impres- sion . " 28 Addison lost his sway . Johnson's prose , somewhat adulter- ated with sugar and water , was to become the standard prose of Vic- torian England . Yet the ...
... virtue with vice . The fifth , like " On a Daffodill , " ponders " the spring of the year , and the spring of life " ; addressing young readers , the Rambler warns them " that a blighted spring makes a barren year , and that the vernal ...
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 |