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This volume in the 21st-Century Oxford Authors series offers students an authoritative, comprehensive selection of the work of Samuel Johnson (1709-1784). This edition presents Johnson's texts in chronological order, and includes an Introduction, Chronology, and full commentary notes.
List of contents
- Introduction
- Chronology
- Note on the Texts
- Part I: Early Poetry and Prose to 1750
- Translation of Horace, Odes, I.xxii (pre-1725)
- Translation of Horace, Epode, II (prob. 1726)
- Translation of Horace, Odes, II.xiv (prob. 1726)
- Translation of Horace, Odes, II.xx (prob. 1726)
- 'Festina Lente' (prob. late 1726)
- 'The Young Author' (1729)
- 'Annals' (1734) - from birth to 1719
- Letter to Cave, 25 November, 1734
- 'Preface' to Lobo's Voyage to Abyssinia (1 February, 1735)
- Letter to Cave, 12 July, 1737
- London (12 May, 1738)
- 'Debates in the Senate of Magna Lilliputia' (June, 1738)
- 'A Prayer on my Birth-Day' (7 September, 1738)
- 'On Gay's Epitaph' (October, 1738)
- 'Life of Boerhaave' (January, 1739)
- A Compleat Vindication of the Licensers of the Stage (May, 1739)
- 'Prologue' to Lethe (April, 1740)
- 'An Epitaph on Claudy Philips, a Musician' (September, 1740)
- 'On Epitaphs' (December, 1740)
- Review of the Memoirs of the Duchess of Marlborough (March, 1742)
- Proposal for the Harleian Miscellany (November, 1742)
- Letter to Edward Cave, autumn 1743
- Life of Savage (11 February, 1744)
- Introduction to the Harleian Miscellany (April, 1744)
- 'To Miss -, on her playing upon the harpsichord' (1746?)
- Prologue Spoken by Mr Garrick at the Opening of the Theatre in Drury-Lane (September, 1747)
- 'The Vision of Theodore' (7 April, 1748)
- The Vanity of Human Wishes (9 January, 1749)
- 'The Vanity of Wealth' (February, 1750)
- Part II: 'Dictionary' Johnson
- The Rambler (1750-1752): 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 39, 41, 45, 47, 49, 60, 63, 64, 70,71, 72, 73, 76, 77, 79, 85, 87, 90, 93, 101, 106, 108, 113, 114, 115, 121, 129, 134, 135, 137, 142, 146, 148, 151, 156, 158, 159, 161, 165, 167, 168, 170, 171, 176, 181, 183, 184, 188, 191, 196, 207, 208
- 'Life of Cheynel' (July, 1751)
- Sermon . . . for the Funeral of his Wife (prob. March, 1752)
- 'Prayers Composed on the Death of My Wife' (24 April-6 May 1752)
- The Adventurer (1752-1754): 39, 45, 50, 67, 69, 84, 85, 95, 99, 102, 107, 111, 119, 126, 137, 138
- Diary entries, 22, 23, and 29 April, 1753
- Letter to Thomas Warton, 16 July, 1754
- 'Preface' to the Dictionary of the English Language (15 April, 1755)
- Letter to the Earl of Chesterfield, 7 February, 1755
- Letter to Bennet Langton, 6 May, 1755
- Letter to Miss Hill Boothby, 31 December, 1755
- Letter to Miss Hill Boothby, 8 January, 1756
- Letter to Samuel Richardson, 16 March, 1756
- 'Introduction to the Political State of Great Britain' (15 May, 1756)
- Review of Warton, Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope (15 May, 1756)
- Review of Blackwell, Memoirs of the Court of Augustus (15 May, 1756)
- 'Observations on the Present State of Affairs' (15 August, 1756)
- Review of Hanway, An Essay on Tea (15 May, 1757)
- Review of Jenyns, Free Inquiry (15 May, 1757)
- 'Of the Duty of a Journalist' (8 April, 1758)
- The Idler (8 April 1758-1760): 1, 5, 10, 17, [22], 22, 23, 27, 30, 31, 32, 36, 38, 40, 41, 44, 48, 49, 50, 51, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 65, 66, 72, 81, 84, 88, 94, 100, 103
- Letter to Sarah Johnson, 20 January, 1759
- Letter to William Strahan, 20 January, 1759
- Letter to Lucy Porter, 23 January, 1759
- Diary entry and prayer, 23 January, 1759
- Rasselas (26 June, 1759)
- 'The Bravery of the English Common Soldiers' (January, 1760)
- Review of Tytler's Mary Queen of Scots (October, 1760)
- Part III: The Great Cham of Literature
- Letter to Baretti, 10 June, 1761
- Letter to Boswell, 8 December, 1763
- Diary entry, 21 April, 1764
- 'A Reply to Impromptu Verses by Baretti' (1765?)
- Preface to The Plays of Shakespeare (10 October, 1765)
- Diary entry, 1 January, 1766
- 'The Fountains' (1 April, 1766)
- Letter to Boswell, 9 September, 1769
- The False Alarm (16 January, 1770)
- Prayer on Easter Day, 31 March, 1771
- 'Parodies of Percy's Hermit of Warkworth' (prob. summer 1771)
- '????? ???????' (12 December, 1772)
- Letter to Boswell, 24 February, 1773
- Diary entry, 22 July, 1773
- Diary entry, 25 July, 1774
- The Patriot (12 October, 1774)
- Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (18 January, 1775) - selection
- Letter to James Macpherson, 20 January, 1775
- Taxation No Tyranny (8 March, 1775)
- Diary entry, 14 April, 1775
- 'To Mrs Thrale on her Thirty-Fifth Birthday' (presented 24 January, 1776)
- Diary entry for Easter Day, 7 April, 1776
- 'Lines on Thomas Warton's Poems' (early 1777?)
- Diary entry, 28 March, 1777
- 'Prologue' to Hugh Kelly's A Word to the Wise (29 May, 1777)
- Letter to William Dodd, 26 June, 1777
- Letter to Richard Farmer, 22 July, 1777
- 'An Extempore Elegy' (1778?)
- 'A Short Song of Congratulation' (August, 1780)
- Lives of the Poets (1781)
- Letter to Thomas Lawrence, 17 January, 1782
- Diary entry, 20 January, 1782
- Letter to Thomas Lawrence, 1 May, 1782
- Letter to Boswell, 7 September, 1782
- 'On the Death of Dr Robert Levet' (August, 1783)
- Correspondence with Mrs. Thrale, 2-8 July, 1784
- Letter to Lord Thurlow, 9 September, 1784
- Translation of Horace, Odes, IV.vii (November, 1784)
- Diary entry, 5 December, 1784
- Appendices
- Appendix A: Johnson's prayer on beginning The Rambler.
- Appendix B: Johnson's revisions to The Rambler, no. 1.
- Appendix C: Bonnell Thornton's parody of The Rambler.
- Notes
- Texts Arranged by Genre
- Index of Short Titles
- Index of First Lines
- Index of Persons
- Index of Subjects
About the author
David Womersley is the Thomas Warton Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford, and a fellow of St. Catherine's College.
Summary
This volume in the 21st-Century Oxford Authors series offers students an authoritative, comprehensive selection of the work of Samuel Johnson (1709-1784). This edition presents Johnson's texts in chronological order, and includes an Introduction, Chronology, and full commentary notes.
Additional text
This is easily the most comprehensive, visually attractive anthology of Johnson's poetry and prose ever produced. Its generous length permits inclusion of numerous less-known pieces; it is physically compact and easy to hold in the hands; and it includes black-and-white illustrations of title pages, a manuscript page, and a printer's proof page.
