Johnson Samuel: biography, features of creativity, interesting facts

Samuel Johnson is an English critic, biographer, essayist, poet and lexicographer. It is considered one of the greatest figures of life and literature of the XVIII century. Another reason for the popularity that Samuel Johnson enjoys today is the writer's quotes.

short biography

Johnson Samuel was born on September 18, 1709 in the provincial town of Lichfield, in Staffordshire, in the family of Michael Johnson, who traded books and stationery, and Sarah. The father (as well as his son later) was prone to bouts of melancholy, but he was respected: by the time Samuel was born, he had already served as sheriff. Johnson Samuel was a painful child and should not have survived. In 1711, at the age of two, his almost blind, partially deaf, suffering from scrofula and tuberculosis, was taken to Queen Anne, so that her touch healed the patient. But miraculous healing, however, did not happen.

In 1716, Johnson, sensitive, clumsy and not in his own age, entered Lichfield's gymnasium. It was led by the educated but cruel John Hunter, who beat his disciples, in order, in his words, to save them from the gallows. Later Samuel insisted that if he were not beaten, he would not achieve anything. However, under the leadership of Hunter, he learned Latin and Greek languages and began to write poetry. In 1725, at the age of 16, the provincial Johnson stayed for half a year with his cousin Cornelius Ford, a refined and dashing former teacher in Cambridge. There he first learned about the existence of the intellectual and literary world of the country.

The escape

In 1726 he graduated from high school and went to work in his father's bookstore. It was a mistake. The life of Samuel Johnson in the next two years was unhappy, but at the same time he continued to greedy and unsystematically learn English and classical literature.

In 1728, with a small fortune of forty pounds left to his mother after the death of a relative, he quite unexpectedly entered Pembroke College, Oxford. There, however, he was unable to provide himself with enough food, as, indeed, for many years to come. Here began to show signs of melancholy, which will pursue him for the rest of his life. As a consequence, he paid little attention to study and in 1789, extremely depressed and too poor to continue his education, left Oxford without a diploma.

The first books

Translation from the Latin "Messiah" Pope, made by Johnson during his studies, was published in 1731, but by that time poor, in debt, depressed, partially blind and deaf, scars of scrofula and smallpox Samuel feared for his sanity. In addition, in December of the same year his father died, also bankrupt.

In 1732 Johnson found a job as a doorman at the Market-Bosworth Secondary School. While visiting Birmingham, he met Henry Porter and his wife Elizabeth. The following year, while lying in bed during another long visit to new friends, Samuel dictated a shortened English version of the French translation of the book Journey to Abyssinia, written in the XVII century. The Portuguese Jesuit. She became his first published book, and Johnson received five guineas for her.

Marriage

In 1735, at the age of twenty-five, Johnson married the widowed 46-year-old Elizabeth Porter. On his wife's dowry, which was 700 pounds, Samuel founded a private academy near Lichfield. Among the students was David Garrick, who became the most famous actor of his time and a close friend of Johnson. By 1737 the academy went bankrupt, and Samuel decided to make a fortune in the literary field, having left for London accompanied by Garrick.

Creation

In 1738, living in London in extreme poverty, Johnson began writing for the "Gentleman's Magazine" by Edward Cave. There he published "London" - an imitation of the satire of Juvenal on the decline of Ancient Rome, for which he received ten guineas. In addition, he met Richard Savage, another impoverished poet with a dubious reputation.

Between 1740 and 1743 he edited the parliamentary debate for the "Gentleman's Journal." Years later, he was praised for being impartial.

In 1744, Richard Savage died in a Bristol prison. Johnson wrote "The Life of Savage," remarkable for his honest portrayal of the strengths and weaknesses of a friend's character. The work was the first prose of the writer, which attracted the attention of the reading public.

In 1745, "Various observations on the tragedy" Macbeth "were published. The following year he signed a contract with a group of publishers and did a great job of compiling an English dictionary similar to that published in France by forty members of the French Academy. He turned with his "Dictionary Plan" to Count Chesterfield, but he turned out to be a very mediocre patron. The consequence of this was Johnson's next definition of the word "patron": "This is the one who promotes, helps and protects. Usually this is a scoundrel who supports arrogantly in exchange for flattery. "

In 1748, with six assistants, Johnson moved to a large house in Fleet Street and began work on the compilation of the dictionary. In 1749, his melancholic work "The Desire of Human Desires" appeared, and Garrick put the Johnson tragedy "Irene" on Drury Lane.

Between 1750 and 1752 in two weeks he created more than 200 essays "Rambler". In 1752 his wife died. Two years later, Johnson returned to Oxford, where he met Thomas Wharton, the future poet-laureate. The following year, with the help of Wharton, Samuel finally received his master's degree in Oxford. In the same year, his large English dictionary was finally finalized and published, and although he was still very poor, his literary reputation was finally established. During this period, he met with young Joshua Reynolds, Bennett Langton and Tofam Bockler.

In 1756, Johnson Samuel wrote "Proposals for a new edition of Shakespeare," which, however, did not appear until 1765. He also continued his work as a journalist, editor and compiler of prefaces. When he was arrested for debts, pledge was made by Samuel Richardson. Between 1758 and 1760 he wrote a series of essays "Lazy". In 1759, his mother Sarah died, and, in a gloomy mood, he wrote a moral fable Russell, to pay, he said, a funeral.

Retired

In 1762, after the accession to the throne of George III, Samuel Johnson, whose books did not bring him much income, he was granted a pension of 300 pounds a year to his satisfaction. However, the appointment of the boardinghouse even more embarrassed him, because he was an adherent of the Tory party and, remembering the abuse of the Whigs, defined the word "pension" in his dictionary as "a payment to civil servants for treason to their country." For the first time in his life, he was not forced to save on the necessary, and although his appearance remained surprisingly and inevitably uncouth, he became one of the most famous literary lions in the highest world. When several young ladies, meeting him at a literary evening, expressed surprise at the strangeness of his figure, as if he were some kind of monster from the deserts of Africa, Johnson noticed to them that he was tamed and he could be petted.

In 1763 he first met James Boswell. Despite his Scottish descent (Johnson disdained the Scots - hence his famous definition: "Oats are a grain that horses eat in England, and people in Scotland"), they got along well with each other. In 1764, the Literary Club was formed, whose members were Reynolds, Edmund Burke, Garrick, Boswell and Johnson.

In 1765, Samuel edited Shakespeare's plays under his editorship with a magnificent and perceptive preface and was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor of Juridical Sciences at Trinity College in Dublin. He also met with wealthy Henry and Esther Trails, with whom he will spend most of his time over the next sixteen years (speaking a lot, but not doing much creativity). One day, Johnson remarked: "Only dummies write a complimentary ticket."

In 1769 Boswell, becoming a lawyer in Edinburgh, married, and remained in Scotland until 1772. Between 1770 and 1775, Johnson released a series of violent, but characteristically categorical political pamphlets. In August 1773, although he always despised Scotland, Samuel undertook a memorable trip with Boswell to the Hebrides. In July 1774, Johnson and the Trails went to Wales. In the same year, Oliver Goldsmith, one of the few contemporaries with whom he genuinely admired, died, and the writer felt a huge loss.

Samuel Johnson about patriotism

At the same time he wrote a pamphlet "Patriot", where he criticized what he saw as false patriotism. In the evening of April 7, 1775, he uttered the famous phrase that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. Contrary to popular belief, this statement did not relate to patriotism in general, but to the false use of the term by John Stewart, the Earl of Bute, as well as his supporters and enemies who played on his non-English origins. Johnson opposed the self-proclaimed patriots as a whole, but valued "true" patriotism.

Redemption

In 1775, he published his "Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland". In the same year, Johnson received an honorary degree from Oxford University, and also with the Trails visited France (which he found worse than Scotland). Samuel vehemently reacted to the American revolution, characterizing the rebellious colonists as a "race of convicts." In 1776, he traveled with Boswell to Oxford, Ashbourne and Lichfield, where in the rain, with his head uncovered, stood in the market square in front of the building in which his father's bookstore was located, redeeming a "violation of filial piety" committed 50 years ago. Today there is a museum of Samuel Johnson.

last years of life

In 1778, he met with 24-year-old Fanny Bernie, who soon became a successful author of Evelina. The following year, David Garrick, an old disciple of Johnson and his close friend, died, and Samuel was again shocked. In 1781, after the publication of the book "The Life of English Poets," Henry Trail died. Samuel consoled his widow and was going to marry her. In 1783, however, his health deteriorated and he suffered a stroke. The following year, recovering slightly, he broke with Mrs. Trail when she announced her intention to marry Gabriela Piozzi.

Dr. Samuel Johnson, suffering from gout, asthma, dropsy and swelling, found that the fear of death began to take possession of him, but met him courageously, as he met all adversity in his life. On December 13, he died at the age of 75. He was buried in Westminster Abbey on December 20.