Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784

Variant names
Dates:
Birth 1709-09-18
Death 1784-12-13
Britons,
Latin, English,

Biographical notes:

Epithet: of the Madras Select Committee

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000356.0x00024f

Epithet: of Add MS 44802

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000356.0x00024e

English lexicographer, critic and conversationalist.

From the description of Painting of Samuel Johnson, n.d. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 32959784

Epithet: Chaplain to the English Ambassador to Denmark

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000356.0x000248

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was one of the leading literary figures of eighteenth-century England. He is best remembered for compiling the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language, published in 1755. He was memorialized in James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. (1791).

From the description of Samuel Johnson letters, 1731-1784. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 612836443

From the description of Samuel Johnson manuscripts, 1725-1784. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 612838213

English man of letters.

From the description of Autograph letter signed : Bamff, to Henry Thrale but written to Mrs. Thrale, 1773 Aug. 25. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270486405

From the description of Autograph letter signed : Lichfield, to Mrs. Thrale, 1775 Aug. 5. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270487864

Epithet: of Add MS 36897

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000356.0x00024b

English lexicographer.

From the description of ALS : Lichfield, Eng., to Henry Thrale, 1771 July 31. (Rosenbach Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122586063

From the description of ALS : London, to John Taylor, 1782 Dec. 7. (Rosenbach Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122633695

From the description of Receipt : to Thomas Hay, [ca. 1765]. (Rosenbach Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122610893

From the description of Circular letter: London, to the electors of the borough of Southwark, on behalf of Henry Thrale, [1780 Sept.]. (Rosenbach Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122540721

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was one of the leading literary figures of eighteenth-century England. He is best remembered for compiling the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language, published in 1755. Prominent among his diverse other works are the satirical History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia (1759), The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare (1765), and his edition of Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, to the Works of the English Poets (first collected in 1781). He wrote the bulk of the essays released in periodical form as The Rambler (1750-1752) and The Idler (1758-1760).

A native of Lichfield, Johnson attended Oxford in 1728 and 1729, but left without receiving a degree. He married the widow Elizabeth Porter (1688-1752) in 1735; they had no children together. Johnson resided primarily in London from 1737 onward, although he continued to maintain a house in Lichfield. He received an honorary M.A. from Oxford in 1755, and honorary LL.D. degrees from Trinity College, Dublin in 1765 and from Oxford in 1775. He supported himself modestly from his literary endeavors until being granted an annual pension in 1762. He was memorialized in James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. (1791), generally regarded as an early landmark of the biographical craft.

From the guide to the Samuel Johnson manuscripts, 1725-1784., (Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University)

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was one of the leading literary figures of eighteenth-century England. He is best remembered for compiling the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language, published in 1755. Prominent among his diverse other works, he also wrote the satirical History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia (1759), edited The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare (1765), and produced the important Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, to the Works of the English Poets (first collected in 1781). He wrote the bulk of the essays released in periodical form as The Rambler (1750-1752) and The Idler (1758-1760).

A native of Lichfield, Johnson attended Oxford in 1728 and 1729, but left without receiving a degree. He married the widow Elizabeth Porter (1688-1752) in 1735; they had no children together. Johnson resided primarily in London from 1737 onward, although he continued to maintain a house in Lichfield. He received an honorary M.A. from Oxford in 1755, and honorary LL.D. degrees from Trinity College, Dublin in 1765 and from Oxford in 1775. He supported himself modestly from his literary endeavors until being granted an annual pension in 1762. He was memorialized in James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. (1791), generally regarded as an early landmark of the biographical craft.

From the guide to the Samuel Johnson letters, 1731-1784., (Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University)

Samuel Johnson was born in Denmark around 1863. He was living in Dunn County, Wisconsin, in 1884, and in Hammond, Wisconsin, in 1885. He may also have lived at one time in Iowa Falls, Iowa. Johnson came to St. Paul in 1886. City directories indicate that he worked from the 1890s through the 1910s as a teamster, and later as a "stereotyper" and stenographer for West Publishing Company (1920s-[ca.1931]). Long active in local Socialist Labor Party organizations, Johnson served as treasurer (of the St. Paul section?) in the 1900s and 1910s and as state secretary in the 1930s and 1940s.

Johnson married Thyra Jorgenson ([ca.1870]-1953) on September 27, 1908. A daughter, Clara Anne-Marie, was born to the couple on October 30, 1909. A son, Earl, was evidently born later. Clara married Gordon Hauerwas (1909-1973) in 1951, and they for many years made their home in Roseville, Minnesota, a St. Paul suburb.

From the guide to the Samuel Johnson and family papers., 1882-1980., (Minnesota Historical Society)

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Subjects:

  • Theater
  • Architecture
  • Authors, English
  • Authors, English
  • Choral societies
  • Danish Americans
  • English language
  • Labor movement
  • Lexicographers
  • Lexicographers
  • Manuscripts
  • Music
  • Notes
  • Play
  • Scandinavians
  • Socialism
  • Socialists
  • Working class

Occupations:

  • Authors
  • Legislators

Places:

  • Negapatam, India (as recorded)
  • Great Britain (as recorded)
  • Utrecht, the Netherlands (as recorded)
  • United States (as recorded)
  • Minnesota (as recorded)
  • Netherlands, Europe (as recorded)
  • England (as recorded)
  • Carnatic, India (as recorded)
  • Tanjore, India (as recorded)
  • Southwark (London, England) (as recorded)
  • England (as recorded)
  • Netherlands, Europe (as recorded)
  • New York (State)--New York (as recorded)

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