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Lives of the Lexicographers

Samuel Johnson: (Updated: Monday, May 18, 2009). Recently checked out of our local library: Samuel Johnson - The Struggle by Jeffrey Meyers. The prolific Mr. Meyers outdoes himself right in the introduction and zaps us with a very intimate glimpse into the sex life of the great Samuel Johnson. Some very florid comments and great pathos by Samuel Johnson are reported almost right at the start. Well, he's still our hero. We're still wading through this 500+ page tome - but it is keeping our interest. Not for the 18 and under crowd - the language is a little too graphic and a little too suggestive, at times. But, we think it is worth the cover price ($ 35.00) of purchase if you are into Johnson or great biographies. However, we do suggest checking it out at your library or purchasing a second-hand copy. Caveat emptor - we offer no guarantees - it may not be worth your purposes! Of course, if you're into Johnson, biographies, literature, intellectualism or even pseudo-intellectualism (like us! - actually our senior editor has an IQ of 131, but we digress...) you don't need the hyperlinks. Our apologies. Also, we have not read Boswell's Life of Johnson! If you care to donate us a copy, please do and we'll review it here and credit your donation if you wish.

More: Sam began his academic career at Oxford. Unfortunately - in that time period - Oxford had an abysmal reputation for teaching. Even the great Edward Gibbon (possibly the greatest author of his day) left this institution after one year. Most students used tutors, but even these were inadequate at times.

Located: Boswell's Life of Johnson (Osgood edition) at Project Gutenberg (link here).

Religious/Mystical Inclinations: Was heavily influenced by the work A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, ( http://www.logos.com/ebooks/details/serious)
by William Law. (Sorry, no Guttenberg Project edition could be found here...).

Physical/Medical Indications: Due to his wild gesticulations and mannerisms, Sam may have suffered from Tourette Syndrome. Even so, though this repulsed most other folk, it seemed to make the author/playwright Frances Burney adore him all the more.
For an image of a bust of Sam Johnson, link here. For image of a statue of Sam, link here.
Johnson was well known for his physical prowess (for example, his horsemanship) and his physical power. Not one to take insults or sarcasms lightly, Johnson was reputed to have knocked over his adversaries or even to have delivered severe beatings upon them (if he felt they were deserving of it...)

Other women: Hester Thrale. He did have an extraordinary 18 year relationship with a married woman.

Quotable Johnson: "Dictionaries are like watches, the worst is better than none, and the best cannot be expected to go quite true". #35. From the Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.

Rating of this biography: Excellent. We believe the book deserves this rating (or any biography that causes this sensation) because we felt as though we had lived with the man himself.

Next biography: Ambrose Bierce, author of "The Devil's Dictionary".

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Monday, March 15, 2010

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The Anti-Zen Dictionary

Monday, March 15, 2010

dotxxx

No comments:

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Please Mention or Credit the Dictionary

Search This Blog & Web With Google

Lexicographer Obits

Search Postings

Fair Use of Video Claimed for Humorous Self Reference

Search Engine Optimization, Google Optimization -

This Site is "Safe"

Mini-Translator

The National Academies Press Site/Widget

A New Context for the Dictionary

Lives of the Lexicographers

Headlines from Yahoo!

Links - Updated 1/04/2010

Blog Archive

About Me