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Samuel Johnson

Born

in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England

September 18, 1709

Died

December 13, 1784

Genre

Nonfiction, Literature & Fiction, Poetry

Influences

Martin Martin, Thomas Pennant, David Dalrymple ...more

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People note British writer and lexicographer Samuel Johnson, known as "Doctor Johnson," for his Dictionary of the English Language (1755), for Lives of the Poets (1781), and for his series of essays, published under the titles The Rambler (1752) and The Idler (1758).

Samuel Johnson used the first consistent Universal Etymological English Dictionary , first published in 1721, of British lexicographer Nathan Bailey as a reference.

Beginning as a journalist on Grub street, this English author made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, novelist, literary critic, biographer, and editor. People described Johnson as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history." James Bo ...more

Combine Editions
Samuel Johnson’s books

Average rating: 3.68 · 12,323 ratings · 918 reviews · 4,090 distinct works • Similar authors

	The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia 3.46 avg rating — 6,604 ratings — published 1759 — 692 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides 3.57 avg rating — 838 ratings — published 1775 — 35 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Major Works by Samuel Johnson, Donald J. Greene (Editor) 3.89 avg rating — 376 ratings — published 1925 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Preface to Shakespeare 3.62 avg rating — 341 ratings — published 1778 — 72 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Vanity of Human Wishes 3.46 avg rating — 244 ratings — published 1749 — 36 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland 3.41 avg rating — 171 ratings — published 1775	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Grammar of the English Tongue 3.70 avg rating — 157 ratings — published 2005 — 33 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Selected Essays by Samuel Johnson, David Womersley (Editor) 4.15 avg rating — 136 ratings — published 2003 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Dictionary of the English Language: An Anthology by Samuel Johnson, David Crystal (Introduction) 4.23 avg rating — 117 ratings — published 1755 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Preface to a Dictionary of the English Language 3.56 avg rating — 124 ratings — published 1755 — 26 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Samuel Johnson…

Quotes by Samuel Johnson (?)

“Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last.”
― Samuel Johnson, Works of Samuel Johnson. Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia, A Grammar of the English Tongue, Preface to Shakespeare, Lives of the English Poets & more [improved 11/20/2010]

tags: curiosity

1679 likes

“I hate mankind, for I think myself one of the best of them, and I know how bad I am.”
― Samuel Johnson

tags: humor, humour, mankind, misanthropy

577 likes

“He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.”
― Samuel Johnson

441 likes

See all Samuel Johnson's quotes »

Polls

April 2023 Old School Classics Poll

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, 378 pages, 1893

79 votes, 38.9%

Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov, 586 pages, 1859

31 votes, 15.3%

The Elder Edda by Unknown, 384 pages, 1270

28 votes, 13.8%

The Story of the Stone, or The Dream of the Red Chamber, Vol. 1: The Golden Days by Cao Xueqin, 542 pages, 1790

20 votes, 9.9%

Selected Essays of Michel de Montaigne by Michel de Montaigne, 224 pages 1580

18 votes, 8.9%

The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia by Samuel JohnsonSamuel, 224 pages, 1759

15 votes, 7.4%

The Adventures of Roderick Random by Tobias Smollett, 476 pages, 1748

12 votes, 5.9%

203 total votes

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