Today in Writing: September 18 – Samuel Johnson’s Birthday

Dr. Samuel Johnson was born today in writing history, September 18. Learn more about the lexicographer’s life and contributions to the English language. At the end of this piece, aspiring writers should find a topic and practice their writing with a Today in Writing exercise.

Today in Writing: September 18: Samuel Johnson’s Birthday

Dr. Samuel Johnson was born on September 18, 1709. Johnson is best known for his literary criticism and his text, A Dictionary of the English Language. This piece of writing was the preeminent dictionary of the English language for over a century. The effects of its publication have had long-lasting effects that are still felt today.

Additional Facts About Samuel Johnson

Please take this opportunity to learn more about Samuel Johnson’s life and contributions to the literary world. Johnson’s dictionary was a monumental achievement and helped shape Modern English into what it is today. Aspiring writers should also use this opportunity as a writing exercise. Find inspiration and learn more details about Dr. Samuel Johnson.

Samuel Johnson Biography

Samuel Johnson was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, on September 18, 1709. Johnson’s father, Michael, was a bookshop owner. His mother, Sarah, was 40 years old at the time of Samuel’s birth, which was considered a late pregnancy at the time. Samuel Johnson did not cry at his birth, prompting serious concerns about the newborn’s health and life expectancy. Dr. Johnson would be plagued with health issues throughout his life.

Johnson’s Early Life and Health

Johnson’s infant health would improve. However, a few years later, Samuel contracted scrofula. Mycobacterial cervical lymphadenitis, known as the ‘King’s Evil,’ is an infection of lymph nodes associated with tuberculosis. Also known as scrofula, the disease typically presents as a large, growing mass in the neck.

At the time, the only cure for the King’s Evil was thought to be the touch of royalty. This ‘royal touch’ was the belief that monarchs could cure their subjects by laying hands on them. Johnson received a royal touch by Queen Anne on March 30, 1712. The monarch’s contact did not cure his infection. Johnson would undergo an operation that left him permanently scarred.

Childhood Prodigy

Despite his health concerns, young Samuel Johnson showed extreme intelligence early. At 3, he began his education at home with his mother. By the time Johnson was 4, he was enrolled at the local school. Samuel Johnson would continue to excel and advance through his studies, attending a variety of schools throughout his youth.

Johnson’s proximity to his father’s bookstore also helped inspire the aspiring writer. While the Johnson family lived close to poverty, Samuel had access to a library of literature in the 18th century. He would also work in his father’s shop to help earn extra money.

Johnson in Oxford

Michael Johnson’s debts hung heavily over his family. In 1728, the death of Sarah Johnson’s cousin willed Samuel money to attend university. Samuel Johnson enrolled in Pembroke College, Oxford, on October 31, 1728. However, the inheritance did not cover the full tuition, so a friend and classmate offered to pay the remained. 

Samuel again threw himself into his studies and excelled academically. During this time, he also began writing. Johnson would receive high praise while at Pembroke. Thirteen months into his stay at the college, Johnson was forced to drop out due to a lack of funds. 

He did not graduate with a degree. However, he was eventually awarded a Master of Arts degree from the University of Oxford in 1755. Dr. Samuel Johnson would also receive honorary doctorates from Trinity College Dublin in 1775 and the University of Oxford in 1775.

Writing and Teaching Career

Despite not receiving a degree, Samuel Johnson would find several teaching and tutoring positions throughout his life. He also authored several essays and publications and befriended writers, artists, and intellectuals across England. Not all of Johnson’s notoriety was positive. Critics often disagreed with Dr. Johnson, with one describing him as an idiot savant. 

A group of publishers approached Johnson in 1746 about work on a definitive and comprehensive English dictionary. Samuel Johnson agreed to the task, claiming it would take him three years to complete. A Dictionary of the English Language took Johnson nine years to finish and was finally published in 1755. The extensive project was completed solely on his own.

Samuel Johnson’s Tourette’s Syndrome

Samuel Johnson was an extremely recognizable figure. He was very tall and bulky. Johnson’s childhood affliction of scrofula left him horribly scarred. Health issues also left him blind in one eye and deaf in one ear. Johnson had a memorable appearance.

However, countless descriptions and recollections of the lexicographer include details about odd tics, strange gestures, and off-putting mannerisms. Experts have concluded that Samuel Johnson likely had Tourette’s Syndrome. The disorder would not be officially discovered until 1825.

Later Life and Death

Johnson would continue to write through his bouts with poor health. He would publish a book, The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, in 1759. Additionally, Samuel Johnson authored magazines, pamphlets, translations, sermons, poems, and essays on various topics. He published The Plays of William Shakespeare, his edition of the Bard’s plays, in 1765. 

Samuel Johnson was well known for his intellect and contributions. While visiting the Queen’s library in 1767, Johnson was granted a special audience with King George III. Upon hearing of the author’s visit, the King demanded an introduction.

During the time of the American Revolution, Johnson, an Englishman, sided with Great Britain. He believed that the European powers in North America were robbers of native land. Johnson also thought Americans had no more right to rule themselves than the Cornish in Cornwall. In one of his final pamphlets, Taxation No Tyranny, published in 1775, Samuel Johnson mused why cries for liberty came from the American colonies, who hypocritically owned enslaved people.

On June 17, 1783, Samuel Johnson suffered a stroke that temporarily left him unable to speak. While his voice did return, his health continued to fail, and he would suffer from sickness and gout for the rest of his life. Dr. Johnson did worry he was dying and relayed this belief in his personal writings and correspondence.

Dr. Samuel Johnson fell into a coma and died in London on December 13, 1784. Close friends who would visit Johnson on his sickbed were devastated. However, Johnson had wished to come to the capital city so he could die in a place he cherished. Johnson was buried the following week, on December 20, in Westminster Abbey. 

A Dictionary of the English Language

Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language was not the first dictionary. In 1746, a group of publishers in London approached Johnson. They were unhappy with the current state of wordbooks and dictionaries. They wanted to contract him to create his version. For the sum of 1,500 guineas (£1,575), approximately $300,000 in 2022, Dr. Johnson accepted the task.

Initially, Johnson claimed that he could finish the project in three years. He worked on his own to define 42,773 in a behemoth manuscript that he would work on over the next nine years. Despite taking longer than expected, Johnson completed the dictionary in 1755. Johnson’s Dictionary would be the preeminent dictionary for over a century until the publication of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1884.

Significance of Johnson’s Dictionary

Johnson’s Dictionary was something the literary world had never seen before, both in appearance and composition. While other dictionaries had been printed by the time of A Dictionary of the English Language, none came close to the size and scope of Samuel Johnson’s collection of words.

A Dictionary of the English Language was printed on pages 18 inches tall by 20 inches wide to include definitions and illustrations. Aside from special publications of the Bible, no other book came close to the scale of Johnson’s Dictionary. Its massive bulk made it a costly text to print and purchase.

Samuel Johnson’s dictionary was the first to illustrate the meanings of words by providing quotes from literature. The words of English writers like William Shakespeare and John Milton became immortalized in Johnson’s Dictionary. Through Dr. Johnson’s writing and research, the words of these literary greats helped shape the English language into what it is today. Shakespeare invented hundreds of words that are still used in Modern English.

The first edition of A Dictionary of the English Language included 42,773 words. These words and their various definitions contain nearly 114,000 entries and quotations. Johnson also had notations on the usage of the words. The text is a highly detailed and complete collection that Samuel Johnson put countless hours of work into. As an example of his thoroughness, the word ‘take’ had over 100 definitions, which ran over five pages. 

While Johnson’s Dictionary did have shortcomings and lacked crucial information found in today’s dictionaries, it was a forerunner for its time. It would hold that title for 157 years. The format and structure created by Samuel Johnson in A Dictionary of the English Language would be the basis for later dictionaries.

Notable Samuel Johnson Books In Order

Life of Mr Richard Savage (1744)

Miscellaneous Observations on the Tragedy of Macbeth (1745)

The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749)

A Dictionary of the English Language (1755)

The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia (1759)

The Plays of William Shakespeare (1765)

The False Alarm (1770)

The Patriot (1774)

A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1775)

Lives of the Poets (1779–81)

The Beauties of Johnson (1781)

Today in Writing: September 18 – 15 Samuel Johnson Quotes

Dr. Samuel Johnson was a respected intellectual. His literary reviews and critiques made a lasting impression in the writing world. Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language was ahead of its time and held that position for more than 150 years. Samuel Johnson’s legacy is one of scholarly reputation and respect for the English lexicon. Aspiring writers should take note of the lexicographer’s monumental contributions to the written word.

15 Quotes From Dr. Samuel Johnson

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

Worth seeing? Yes; but not worth going to see.

My dear friend, clear your mind of cant.

When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.

Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not.

Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.

The world is like a grand staircase, some are going up and some are going down.

The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.

Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.

Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise.

Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.

Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance of justice. Injuries are revenged; crimes are avenged.

Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.

Men more frequently require to be reminded than informed.

I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read.

Today in Writing: September 18 – Aspiring Writers Daily Writing Exercise

Do any of the stories from Samuel Johnson’s life inspire you? Do any of Dr. Johnson’s contributions to the English language inspire an idea of your own? Do any of his quotes inspire or make you think? 

Find a topic from Today in Writing: September 18 and freewrite about it for at least 10 minutes. Don’t let any opportunity to write go to waste. Aspiring writers: Practice your writing today! Celebrate Today in Writing History September 18.