Samuel Johnson - a select bibliography



"The best part of every author is in general to be found in his book, I assure you."
Samuel Johnson


Samuel Johnson lived by his pen from the age of 28 until he received a pension at the age of 53. He wrote essays, reviews, sermons, biographies, poetry, an edition of Shakespeare's plays and the Dictionary of the English Language. Even after financial necessity had ceased to drive him, he still produced many works, including A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and the Lives of the Poets. The Yale collected edition will run to 24 volumes.

Of the making of books and articles about Johnson, there is no end. There are studies of every aspect of his life and work, from his prose style to his politics, from his religion to his health. No attempt has been made to deal with these here. There is a useful bibliography of secondary literature in Clingham's volume, noted below under "Starting points". For specialist Johnson bibliographies, click here.

Starting points

The most convenient anthology of Johnson's writing is Donald Greene (ed), Samuel Johnson (Oxford, 1984), in the Oxford Authors series. Less extensive, but also useful, is Samuel Johnson: Selected Writings, edited by Patrick Cruttwell (Harmondsworth, 1968) in the Penguin Classics series. Both of these are readily available. There is a short (111 pages) introduction to Johnson by Pat Rogers in the Past Masters series, Samuel Johnson (Oxford, 1993). Another excellent introduction is A Preface to Samuel Johnson by Thomas Woodman (London, 1993), which sets criticism of the works against the background of eighteenth century culture, religious, political, commercial, and literary. A collection of introductory essays, The Cambridge Companion to Samuel Johnson (Cambridge, 1997) was edited by Greg Clingham. John Wain's Samuel Johnson (London, revised edn, 1988) is a readable and sympathetic biography.

Writings by Samuel Johnson

There are many editions of works by Johnson. Several have been published in paperback by Penguin. The Complete English Poems was edited by J D Fleeman (Harmondsworth, 1971). A Journey to the Western Islands was published together with Boswell's A Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, edited by Peter Levi (Harmondsworth, 1984). There is an edition of Rasselas (Harmondsworth, 1976) edited by D J Enright. Rasselas has also been published in paperback in the Oxford World's Classics series, edited by J P Hardy (Oxford, 1988).

The poems also appear in The Poems of Samuel Johnson edited by David Nichol Smith and Edward L McAdam Jr, revised by J D Fleeman (2nd edn, Oxford, 1974). Dr Fleeman produced an astonishingly detailed edition of A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (Oxford, 1985). He also collected a number of biographies in Early Biographical Writings of Dr Johnson (Farnborough, 1973). The Life of Savage was edited by Clarence Tracy (Oxford, 1971).

The Lives of the Poets have been edited by Roger Lonsdale (Oxford, 2006).

The standard edition of the letters is Bruce Redford (ed), The Letters of Samuel Johnson (The Hyde edition) (Oxford, 1992-94). An earlier edition is by R W Chapman (Oxford, 1952, reprinted 1984). Though largely superseded by Redford's edition it is still useful, particularly for Mrs Thrale's letters to Johnson.

The first and fourth editions of the Dictionary of the English Language are available on CD-ROM (Cambridge, 1996).

The standard edition of Johnson's works is the Yale edition, which commenced publication in 1958. The volumes are:

  • Vol I, Diaries, Prayers and Annals, edited by E L McAdam Jr, with Donald and Mary Hyde (New Haven and London, 1958)
  • Vol II, The Idler and the Adventurer, edited by W J Bate, John M Bullitt and L F Powell (New Haven and London, 1963)
  • Vols III-V, The Rambler, edited by W J Bate and Albrecht B Strauss (New Haven and London, 1969)
  • Vol VI, Poems, edited by E L McAdam Jr, with George Milne (New Haven and London, 1964)
  • Vols VII, VIII Johnson on Shakespeare, edited by Arthur Sherbo (New Haven and London, 1969)
  • Vol IX, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, edited by Mary Lascelles (New Haven and London, 1971)
  • Vol X, Political Writings, edited by Donald J Greene (New Haven and London, 1977)
  • Vol XIV, Sermons, edited by Jean Hagstrum and James Gray (New Haven and London, 1978)
  • Vol XV, A Voyage to Abyssinia, edited by Joel J Gold (New Haven and London, 1985)
  • Vol XVI, Rasselas and Other Tales, edited by Gwin J Kolb (New Haven and London, 1990)
  • Vol XVII, A Commentary on Mr Pope's Principles of Morality, or Essay on Man, edited by O M Brack Jr (New Haven and London, 2005)
  • Vol XVIII, Johnson on the English Language, edited by Gwin J Kolb and Robert DeMaria Jr (New Haven and London, 2005)
The following volumes are forthcoming in the Yale edition:
  • Vols XI-XIII, Debates in Parliament, edited by Thomas Kaminski
  • Vol XIX, Biographical Writings, edited by O M Brack Jr
  • Vols XX-XXII, The Lives of the Poets, edited by John H Middendorf
  • Vol XXIII, Shorter Prose, edited by O M Brack Jr
  • Vol XXIV, Index
There are on-line editions of many of Johnson's works at Jack Lynch's site; click here.

Biographies

Biographies by friends and contemporaries of Johnson:

The best-known biography is, of course, Boswell's Life of Johnson. It is available in many editions, including the Oxford World's Classics, edited by R W Chapman (Oxford, 1980). There is an abridged version in Penguin paperback, edited by Christopher Hibbert (Harmondsworth, 1979). The standard scholarly edition is that edited by G B Hill and revised by L F Powell (Oxford, Vols 1-4, 1934, Vols 5-6 2nd edn, 1964). Volume 5 is the Tour to the Hebrides and the Journey into North Wales. Jack Lynch has prepared an on-line version of the Life. An edition of the manuscript is in course of publication. Volume 1, covering the years 1709-1765, edited by Marshall Waingrow, appeared in 1994 (Edinburgh/New Haven and London). Volume 2, covering 1766-1776, was edited by Bruce Redford with Elizabeth Goldring (Edinburgh/New Haven and London, 1998).

Hesther Lynch Piozzi, Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson LLD (London, 1786). This has appeared in a number of editions, including Birkbeck Hill's Johnsonian Miscellanies, noted below, and Arthur Sherbo (ed), Mrs Piozzi's Anecdotes with William Shaw's Memoirs of Dr Johnson (Oxford,1974). Many of the anecdotes are derived from Mrs Piozzi's journal, published as Katharine Balderston (ed) Thraliana (Oxford, 2nd edn, 1951).

Sir John Hawkins, The Life of Samuel Johnson (London, 2nd edn, 1787). There is an abridged version edited by Bertram Davis (London, 1961), and the Life was reprinted in full in 1974.

O M Brack Jr and Robert E Kelley (eds), The Early Biographies of Samuel Johnson (Iowa, 1974). Collects fourteen early biographies.

George Birkbeck Hill (ed), Johnsonian Miscellanies (Oxford, 1897, reprinted London, 1966). Collects numerous accounts of Johnson, including Mrs Piozzi's Anecdotes.

The leading modern biographies are:

James Clifford, Young Samuel Johnson (London, 1955) (in the USA, Young Sam Johnson). The first detailed study of Johnson's early years (down to 1749), this volume makes good use of much material unavailable to earlier biographers, especially the researches of Aleyn Lyell Reade.

James Clifford, Dictionary Johnson (London, 1980). Deals with Johnson's middle years, from 1749 to 1763.

Walter Jackson Bate, Samuel Johnson (London, 1975, 1977). Makes much use of psychoanalytical approaches.

Thomas Kaminski, The Early Career of Samuel Johnson (New York and Oxford, 1987). A very detailed study of Johnson's literary activity during his first years in London, up to the signing of the contract for the Dictionary in 1746.

John Wain, Samuel Johnson (London, 1974, revised edn, 1988). Perhaps the best introduction to Johnson's life and work. Wain's is, in both senses, a writer's biography; like Johnson he was born in Staffordshire, attended Oxford, and made his living by his pen.

Robert DeMaria Jr, The Life of Samuel Johnson (Oxford, 1993). A study concerned to set Johnson and his works in the context of European culture.

Christopher Hibbert, The Personal History of Samuel Johnson (London 1971, reissued 1998). Concentrates on the life, rather than the work. Originally published in 1971, it has not been revised for the 1998 reissue.


Journals

There are several journals devoted to Johnson and his circle:

The New Rambler. The annual journal of the Johnson Society of London. Prints the papers delivered to the Society, together with book reviews and articles. Commenced publication in 1941. Back numbers are available from 1967 onwards. To subscribe, or order back issues, contact us here.

The New Idler. An occasional newsletter, issued to members of the Johnson Society of London, noting news items and other topical information regarding Johnson. Commenced publication in 1989. Thirty issues have so far been published.

The Age of Johnson. The leading scholarly journal.Commencing 1987, it has published a substantial volume of essays each year.

The Transactions of the Johnson Society of Lichfield. Published annually since 1910. Prints the Presidential address of the Society, and occasional papers. Available from the Johnson Society of Lichfield at The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum.

Johnsonian News Letter. New series commenced publication 2003. Two issues a year. For details, contact JNLcustomerservice@pennypublications.com.

Bibliographies


J D Fleeman, A Bibliography of the Works of Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784 (2000). This two-volume bibliography by the leading Johnson scholar, the late J D Fleeman of Pembroke College, Oxford, records Johnson's literary output in chronological order and traces the development of his career and reputation as a professional writer. The bibliography also charts the course of Johnson's posthumous literary reputation with lists of new editions up to 1984, the bicentenary of his death. Following Dr Fleeman's death, the work was completed for publication by James McLaverty.

W P Courtney and D Nichol Smith, A Bibliography of Samuel Johnson (1915, reprinted 1968). The standard bibliography of Johnson's writings until the publication of Dr Fleeman's Bibliography.

James Clifford and Donald Greene, Samuel Johnson: A Survey and Bibliography of Critical Studies (1970). The standard bibliography of writing about Johnson. Indicates particularly important publications. The introductory essay is a valuable survey of the course of Johnsonian studies.

Donald Greene and John A Vance, Bibliography of Johnsonian Studies 1970-1985 (1987). A supplement to Clifford and Greene's bibliography.

Jack Lynch's on-line bibliography records publications from 1986 onwards. His bibliography up to 1997 appears in Volume 10 of The Age of Johnson, and a revised version was published as A Bibliography of Johnsonian Studies 1986-1998 (2000).

A very useful annotated on-line select bibliography of primary and secondary sources, also compiled by the indefatigable Jack Lynch.

Edward Tomarken, A History of the Commentary on Selected Writings of Samuel Johnson (1994). Exactly what the title indicates. It deals with the Life of Savage and other early biographies, non-dramatic poems, Irene, the essays, Rasselas, Shakespeare, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, and the Lives of the Poets.

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