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Samuel Johnson

Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London

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Famed as the author of the prodigious Dictionary of the English Language (1755), he gained further prestige through the publication of his new edition of Shakespeare (1765) and his travel memoir A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland (1775). Massive, ungainly, plagued with nervous tics, Johnson was the victim of melancholia and could not bear solitude. He had an immense circle of friends, and was one of the greatest conversationalists of all time. Reynolds founded the Literary Club in 1764 to 'give him unlimited opportunities for talking'. James Boswell's Life, along with other biographies documented Johnson's behaviour and mannerisms in such detail that they have informed the posthumous diagnosis of Tourette syndrome. A study for James Barry's mural painting The Distribution of Premiums in the Society of Arts, marking the occasion on which the Society gave out awards for achievement in the arts, manufactures and commerce.

National Portrait Gallery, London

London

Title

Samuel Johnson

Date

1778–1780

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 60.6 x W 53 cm

Accession number

1185

Acquisition method

Purchased, 1899

Work type

Painting

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National Portrait Gallery, London

St Martin’s Place, London, Greater London WC2H 0HE England

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