Johnson

Johnson

Regarded as one of the greatest figures of 18th century life and letters, Samuel Johnson (usually known as Dr. Johnson) was a writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. He was born on September 18, 1709 in Lichfield, Staffordshire into a family of booksellers. One of Johnson’s greatest contributions was publishing The Dictionary of English Language in 1755. It had a far-reaching effect on Modern English and has been described as one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship. His later works included essays, an influential annotated edition of William Shakespeare’s plays, and the widely read tale Rasselas. In 1763, he met the Scottish lawyer James Boswell in London, beginning a friendship that would result in Boswell’s famous and celebratory biography The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. (1791). Johnson died on December 13, 1784 in London and is buried in the Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey.