Samuel Johnson: A Personal History

by Hibbert, Christopher; Hitchings, Henry

• ISBN13: 9780230614277
• ISBN10: 0230614272
• Edition: Original
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-05-12
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Summary

Christopher Hibbert draws on every known contemporary source to provide a minutely detailed look at the fascinating writer Samuel Johnson. Using facts and anecdotes, Hibbert delivers intimate glimpses into Johnson's time as a schoolboy, his eccentricities as an undergraduate at Oxford, his struggle as a poor writer in London, and his slow rise to the legendary figure with a court of admirers and a steady stream of visitors. Hibbert combines personal stories with an examination Johnson's writing, offering a compelling and readable account.

Author Biography

  Christopher Hibbert was born in 1924 and educated at Radley and Oxford. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the author of many highly acclaimed books, including Disraeli, Edward VII, George VI, The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici; The English: A Social History; and Cavaliers and Roundheads.  

Henry Hitchings is the critically acclaimed author of The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English and Defining the World: The Extraordinary Story of Dr Johnson's Dictionary. Educated at the universities of Oxford and London, he has contributed to many newspapers and magazines including The Guardian, The Financial Times, and the Times Literary Supplement

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Author's Note	p. xi
1709-1755
The Bookseller's Son	p. 3
Grub Street	p. 31
'Poor Dear Tetty'	p. 62
'The Giant in his Den'	p. 79
1756-1764
'A New Wife'	p. 99
Tea Cups and Dinner Plates	p. 120
A Young Man from Edinburgh	p. 140
The Turk's Head Oracle	p. 156
1765-1775
New Friends and Old Rambles	p. 179
Streatham Park	p. 193
Scotland	p. 216
Wales and France	p. 235
1776-1784
'Whole Nests of People in his House'	p. 251
Mr Wilkes and Mr Edwards	p. 269
'Formidable and Dangerous Distempers'	p. 282
The Race with Death	p. 297
Notes	p. 316
Bibliography	p. 339
Index	p. 344
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