Samuel Johnson, English Author

Samuel Johnson, English Author

Samuel Johnson (September 18, 1709 - December 13, 1784), often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. Johnson was a devout Anglican and committed Tory. He is the subject of James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson. Johnson obtained some notice with his works London (1738) and The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749) - both of which are considered great poems - but his efforts in the 1750's are part of why he's considered a titan. This decade saw the creation of his Dictionary (1755), his Rambler essays (1750-52), his Idler essays (1758-60), and Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia (1759). Johnson was a tall and robust man. His odd gestures and tics were disconcerting to some on first meeting him. Boswell's Life, along with other biographies, documented his behavior and mannerisms in such detail that they have informed the posthumous diagnosis of Tourette syndrome, a condition not defined or diagnosed in the 18th century. After a series of illnesses, he died in 1784, at the age of 75, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

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