Index of Persons
JOHNSON
Principal Events of His Life
1709 Birth 24
1712 Taken to London and ‘touched’ by Queen Anne 28
1717 Enters Lichfield Grammar School 29
1725 Visits his uncle, Cornelius Ford, at Pedmore 31 Enters Stourbridge Grammar School 31
1726 Returns home 32
1728 Enters Pembroke College 38 Translates Pope’s Messiah 39
1729 Leaves Oxford (12 Dec) and returns home 47
1731 Death of his father 47
1732 Usher at Market Bosworth 50 At Sir Wolstan Dixie’s 50
1733 At Birmingham 50, 51
1734 Returns to Lichfield 53 Publishes proposals for printing the Latin poems of Politian 53 Returns to Birmingham 53 Offers to write for the Gentleman’s Magazine 53
1735 Publishes Lobo’s Abyssinia 52 Marries Mrs Porter 56 Opens a school at Edial 57
1737 Goes to London with Garrick 59 Offers to translate Sarpi’s History of the Council of Trent 62 Returns to Lichfield and finishes Irene 63 Removes to London with his wife 65
1738 Becomes a writer for the Gentleman’s Magazine 66 Publishes London: A Poem 69 Publishes proposal to translate Sarpi’s History 78 Contributes ‘Life of Father Paul’ to the Gentleman’s Magazine 81
1739 Seeks headmastership of Appleby School and the degree of MA 76–7 Contributes ‘The Life of Boerhaave’ and other pieces to the Gentleman’s Magazine 82
Publishes A Compleat Vindication of the Licensers of the Stage 82 Publishes Marmor Norfolciense 82
Parts from Savage 93
Translates Crousaz’s Commentary on Mr. Pope’s Principles of Morality; R.W. Chapman and A. T. Hazen, Suppl. To Courtney 834
1740 Contributes lives of Blake, Drake and Barretier to the Gentleman’s Magazine 85
Begins to write the Debates 86 Writes prologue for Garrick’s Lethe 86
1741 Contributes conclusion of the Lives of Drake and Barretier 86 Writes Proposals for Dr James’s Medicinal Dictionary 92
1742 Publishes Proposals for printing Bibliotheca Harleiana 88, 89 Writes ‘Life of Sydenham’ 88
1743 Writes dedication and some of the articles for James’s Medicinal Dictionary 11, 92
Takes upon himself a debt of his mother’s 93
1744 Publishes The Life of Savage 93
Life of Barretier published as a pamphlet 93
Contributes the introduction to The Harleian Miscellany 100
1745 Publishes Miscellaneous Observations on the Tragedy of Macbeth 100 Boulter’s Monument, in which Johnson ‘blotted a great many lines’, published 171
1747 Writes prologue on the opening of Drury Lane Theatre 103 Publishes Plan of a Dictionary 104
1748 Contributes ‘Life of Roscommon’ to the Gentleman’s Magazine 108 Contributes the preface and ‘The Vision of Theodore the Hermit’ to The Preceptor 108
1749 Publishes The Vanity of Human Wishes 108
Irene produced and published 110, 111
Forms the Ivy Lane Club 107
1750 Begins The Rambler 113
Writes prologue for Comus 126
Writes preface and postscript for Lauder’s Essay on Milton’s Use… of the Moderns 127, 128
1751 Dictates to Lauder a letter acknowledging his fraud 127
Contributes ‘Life of Cheynel’ to The Student 127
1752 Concludes The Rambler (14 March) 113
Death of his wife (17 March) 129
Composes sermon for her 132
Miss Williams begins to reside with him 276
Writes dedication to Mrs Lennox’s Female Quixote 196
Gets to know Reynolds 133, 134
1753 Begins the second volume of the Dictionary 139
Contributes to The Adventurer 137
Writes dedication to Mrs Lennox’s Shakespeare Illustrated 139
1754 Continues to contribute to The Adventurer 139
Contributes ‘The Life of Cave’ to the Gentleman’s Magazine 139
Visits Oxford 146
Gets to know Murphy 190
Chesterfield recommends the Dictionary in The World 190–91
1755 Writes letter to Chesterfield 142
Becomes an MA of Oxford 153
Publishes the Dictionary 159
Writes for Zachariah Williams ‘An Account of an Attempt to ascertain the Longitude’ 163
Subscribes to Mrs Masters’s Familiar Letters and Poems on Several Occasions,
which he is said to have revised 898
Projects a Bibliothèque 155
1756 Publishes an abridged edition of the Dictionary 165
Contributes to the Universal Visiter 165
Superintends and contributes freely to the Literary Magazine 166
Contributes ‘Memoirs of the King of Prussia’ and other essays to the Literary Magazine 166
Publishes an edition of Sir Thomas Browne’s Christian Morals, with his Life prefixed 166
Writes the introduction to The London Chronicle 171
Contributes dedication and preface to Payne’s Introduction to the Game of Draughts 171
Contributes preface to Rolt’s Dictionary of Trade and Commerce 191
Issues proposals for an edition of Shakespeare 171–2
Introduced to Percy 31
1757 Writes for the Literary Magazine 172
Editing Shakespeare 260
Dictates a speech on an Address to the Throne 172
Writes the first two paragraphs of the preface toChambers’sDesigns of Chinese Buildings 867
1758 Begins The Idler 177
Introduced to Burney 176
1759 Editing Shakespeare 185
Writes advertisement for the proprietors of The Idler 185
Death of his mother 181
Publishes Rasselas 182
Visits Oxford 185
Gets acquainted with Beauclerk 135
Writes three letters to the Gazeteer 188
1760 Probably editing Shakespeare 189
Concludes The Idler 177
Writes ‘An Address of the Painters to Geo. III on his Accession to the Throne’ 188
Writes dedication of Baretti’s Dictionary of the English and Italian Languages 188
Writes introduction to the Proceedings of the Committee for Cloathing French Prisoners 188
1761 Writes dedication to and edits Ascham’s English Works for Bennet 245 Visits Lichfield in the winter (of 1761–2) 198
1762 Editing Shakespeare 260
Pensioned 199
Writes an account of the Cock-Lane Ghost imposture 216
Writes preface to A Catalogue of the Pictures, Sculpture, &c., exhibited by the Society of Artists 196
Writes dedication to and concluding paragraph of Kennedy’s Complete System of Astronomical Chronology 195
Trip to Devonshire with Reynolds 201
1763 Meets Boswell for the first time 204, 207
Trip with him to Harwich 243, 247
Writes ‘Character’ of Collins for Fawkes and Woty’s Poetical Calendar 203
Writes dedication to Hoole’s Tasso 204
1764 Editing Shakespeare 253
Visit to Langton, Lincolnshire 251
The Club founded 251
Visits Percy at Easton Maduit 255
Reviews Grainger’s Sugar Cane and Goldsmith’s Traveller 253
Seriously ill in this year and/or the next 254
1765 Friendship with the Thrales begins 257
Visits Cambridge 256
Receives the degree of LLD from Dublin 256
Publishes his Shakespeare 260
‘Engages in politics’ with W. G. Hamilton 257
1766 Contributes to Miss Williams’s Miscellanies 278
Writes dedication to Adams’s Treatise on the Globes 286
Writes dedication to Gwynn’s London and Westminster Improved 276
Spends more than three months at Streatham 276
Passes a month at Oxford 276
1767Interview with the King 281
Writes dedication to Hoole’s Metastasio 963
Spends nearly six months in Lichfield 279
1768Writes prologue to Goldsmith’s The Good-natured Man 287
Spends about two months at Oxford 288
1769Appointed professor in ancient literature to the Royal Academy 296
Writes the character of Dr Mudge 806–7
Spends at least a month at Oxford 297
Visits Lichfield and Ashbourne 296
Stays with the Thrales at Brighton for some five weeks 297
Appears as a witness at Baretti’s trial in October 309
1770Revising his edition of Shakespeare 319–20
Publishes The False Alarm 318
1771Revises the Dictionary 335
Writes Thoughts on… Falkland’s Islands 331
Recommended to Lord North as an MP 332
Spends six weeks in the summer at Lichfield and Ashbourne 335
1772Revises the Dictionary 336
1773Publishes the fourth edition of the Dictionary 369, 371
Writes preface to Macbean’s Dictionary of Ancient Geography 369
Tour to Scotland 402–4
Miscellaneous and Fugitive Pieces published by Davies 405
Johnson–Steevens edition of Shakespeare published 369
1774Death of Goldsmith (4 April) 410–11
Visits Burke at Beaconsfield 414
Publishes The Patriot 414
1775Writes proposals for publishing the works of Mrs Lennox 417
Controversy with Macpherson 422
Publishes Journey to the Western Islands 423
Publishes Taxation no Tyranny 430
Receives the degree of DCL of Oxford 439
Writes preface to Baretti’s Easy Phraseology 417
Visits Oxford, Lichfield and Asbourne in the summer 464
Tour to France 466
1776Visits Oxford, Lichfield and Ashbourne, with Boswell 493, 498, 521
Applies to Lord Chamberlain for rooms in Hampton Court 536
Stays at Bath with the Thrales 541
Goes to Bristol with Boswell 544
First dinner with Wilkes 555
Publishes Political Tracts 431
Stays at Brighton with the Thrales 569
1777 Writes dedication to Bishop Pearce’s Four Evangelists and numerous additions to the ‘Life’ prefixed 502–3, 581
Writes proposals for Shaw’s Analysis of the Galic Language 577
Engages to write The Lives of the Poets 579
Exerts himself on behalf of Dr Dodd by writing The Convict’s Address to his unhappy Brethren, Speech to the Recorder of London, Petitions and ‘Occasional Papers’ 586, 597
Writes prologue to Kelly’s A Word to the Wise 581
Visits Oxford, Lichfield and Ashbourne (where Boswell joins him) 591, 592–3, 636
Pays a short visit to Brighton 636
1778Writing The Lives of the Poets 718
Writes dedication to Reynolds’s Discourses 262
Visits Warley Camp in the summer 718, 723
Visits Winchester 722
1779Publishes the first four volumes of The Lives 724
Writes preface to Maurice’s translation of Oedipus Tyrannus 724
Death of Garrick 724
Visits Lichfield and Ashbourne 736
1780Writing the last volumes of The Lives 749, 754
Death of Beauclerk 751
Contributes to Davies’s Life of Garrick 758
1781Publishes the last six volumes of The Lives 781
Death of Thrale 811
Second dinner with Wilkes 819
Pays a short visit to Southill with Boswell 828–37
Visits Oxford, Birmingham, Lichfield and Ashbourne 839
Beauties of Johnson first published 847
1782Revising The Lives 850
Death of Levett 840
Spends a week at Oxford 849
Takes leave of Streatham 853
Spends more than six weeks at Brighton 852, 854
Mrs Thrale begins to lose her regard for him 853
1783 Publishes revised edition of The Lives 781–2
Revises Crabbe’s Village 861
Has a stroke of the palsy 888
Spends about a fortnight with Langton at Rochester 891
Spends three weeks with Bowels at Heale 891
Death of Miss Williams 891
Threatened with a surgical operation 894
Founds the Essex Head Club 902
Attacked by spasmodic asthma 904
1784 Confined by illness for 129 days 913
Visits Oxford with Boswell 920
Attends The Club for the last time 943
Unsuccessful application for an increased pension to enable him to go to Italy 944
Mrs Thrale’s second marriage 950
Visits Lichfield, Ashbourne, Birmingham and Oxford 958–74
Death of Allen 959
Death 998
Buried in Westminster Abbey 999
I General
abbreviations of his friends’ names 54, 59, 190, 191, 398, 914; abhorrence of affectation 247, 777; abodes, see habitations; absence of mind, see peculiarities; abstinence easy to him 60, 61, 246, 804, 848; absurd stories told of him 244–5; abused in a newspaper 778; accounts of expenditure 862; acquaintance, widely varied 530; making new 972; see also society; on acting 513, 896–7; on actors, see players; agreeable, extremely or infinitely 335, 932; to ladies 804–5; and alcoholic drink, see wine; and alchemy 462; alms-giving 13, 322; his amanuenses, see Others: Macbean, Alexander; William, Maitland; Peyton, Mr; Shiels, Robert; Stewart, Francis; ambition 690; and Americans, see Index of Places: America; amorous propensities, see Green Room; amused, easily 400; amusements 738; “$$ 30; anecdotes, love of, see Index of Subjects: anecdotes; anger, see temper; animals, fondness for 872; annihilation, horror of 683, 684; anniversaries, kept 253–4; anonymous, desires to remain 117; apology, ready to make 941, 994; see also conversation; Appius, compared to 972; Appleby School, applies for mastership of 49; and an apprentice 435; approbation, pleasure of 904; Arabic, wishes to study 777; arguing: before an audience 531, 702, 824, 942, 1006; Burke refers to it 531; butt end of the pistol 311; delight in it 233, 505; described by Burke 938; – by Goldsmith 311; – by Hamilton 824–5; ~~ by Reynolds 311; – by Lord Seaford 862; on either side indifferently 314, 531; kick of the Tartar horse 311; promptitude for it 456, 531; reasoned close or wide 1006; rudeness 562; spirit of contradiction 531, 854; thinking which side he should take 531; on the wrong side 531, 824–5, 869–70, 1006; see also talk; assertions, contradicts or questions 218, 53; asthma 958–9; attacks: enjoyed them 427, 455–6, 793; in the streets 423; looked on them as part of his consequence 1001; never but once replied to them 169, 779; see also Index of Subjects: attacks on authors; attendance, required the least 518, 864; Auchinleck, hopes again to see 852, 909; auction of his books 194; austere, but not morose 324; author without pen, ink or paper 187; authors, assists, see Index of Subjects: authors; awe, regarded with: by Englishmen of great eminence 564; by Fox 667; by Lord B– 827; at Allan Ramsay’s 703; by Scottish literati in London 294; awkward at counting money 777; ball, goes to a 854; Baltic, talks of going up the 416, 594; barbarisms, repressed and colloquial 629; bargainer, a bad 182, 579; and the barometer, see ignorance; bathing 569; beadle within him 562; bear: a dancing bear 296; Gibbon’s sarcasm 448; He-bear 825; J.B.’s a bear 404; ‘like a word in a catch’ 447; ‘nothing of the bear but his skin’ 296; upon stilts 447; ‘beat many a fellow’ 89; beats Osborne the bookseller 89; belabours his confessor 918; his belief 43; angry at attacks on it 524–5; ‘believes nothing but the Bible’ 85; benevolence 133, 491, 572, 587–8, 597, 607, 644, 669, 687, 722, 874, 917, 920, 942, 953, 987, 1004; concealed 943; to an outcast woman 941; Bible: reads the Greek Testament 160; reads verses every Sunday 416; resolves to read the whole 360–61; bigotry, freedom from 215, 340–41, 625, 994–5; biography, love of, see Index of Subjects: biography; birth and parentage 24, 329; birth and rank, respect for 329, 341, 400, 438, 625; birthday: cheerful note on it (1780) 762; dinner on it (1783), 894; disliked mention of it, at Ashbourne 607; escaped from Streatham on it 738; keeps on 18 Sept. (N.S.) 130; kept at Streatham 607; usually unnoticed 607; bleeding, undergoes: 575, 604, 842, 843, 844, 846; ‘fifty ounces’ 847; repeated 849, 888; blood, hot and irritable 869; blushing 701; Bolt-court, house 493, 948; drawing-room 694; garden 493, 738; prints in the dining-room 874; stone seats at the garden door 875; see also household; books: annotates them 509; bidding them farewell 962; black-letter, loves 323; borrows them 970; judgement as to their success 830; lends them 970; promises to take care of borrowed books 407; runs to them 456; tears out their heart 677; treats them roughly 362; see also library; Index of Subjects: books; book-binding 37; borrowed small sums 869; bow: to an archbishop 872; to a nobleman 743; bow-wowway 437; breakfast 133, 373, 462, 654, 859; ‘let us breakfast in splendour’ 739; buffoonery 400–401, 531; bull, made a 941; burlesque, turns a dispute into 808–9; business: Clarendon Press 491, 500; Taylor’s lawsuit 541, 544; Thrale’s brewery 811; bust by Nollekens 1000; calculation: error in 635; fondness for 45, 61, 416, 635; forgets to use it 646; ‘Caliban of literature’ 328, 343; called, being 815; Cambridge, visit to 256; candour 869, 894; cards, wished he had learnt to play 531; carelessness 773; cats: Hodge 872; others 872; cathedrals, had seen most of the English 577, 584; ceremonies of life 545; chambers, see habitations; character: Bayle’s of Menage 1005; Boerhaave’s 1006; Clarendon’s of Falkland 1005; Dryden’s 143, 787; character, S.J.’s: drawn by himself 738, 787, 858, 894; by Boswell 1000, 1002–3; by Dr Burney 531; by Miss Burney 401, 762, 897, 1004; by Dodd 597; by Hamilton 1000; by Dr Maxwell 321; by Mickle 900; by Parr 788; by Pennant 671; at Ramsay’s 702; by Reynolds, see Others: Reynolds, Sir Joshua; by Robertson 702; by Taylor 603; by Towers 785; like Harington’s of Bishop Still 1000; like Milton’s 57, 76, 112; like Savage’s 96; ‘character’ from Horace given in the Morning Post 674; characters: saw a great variety 529; drew strong, yet nice, portraits 529; overcharged 703; too much in light and shade 426; charity to the poor 837, 869; see also alms-giving; chastity in his youth 56, 985–6; influence of Savage 95, 986; chemistry, love of 82, 136, 230, 738, 893; children: on books for them 767; love of them 674, 871; never wished for one 533; treatment of a newborn 311; see also young people; church: attendance due at 43, 740; attends more frequently when there were prayers only 352; behaviour in it 374; devotion to Church of England 245, 702, 1004; lateness in arriving at it 686, 693; offer of preferment 172, 251, 323; radiations of comfort and resolutions at it 261, 527, 531; reluctance to go to it 42–3, 335, 374; civilities, not forgetful of 408; clergymen and elocution 877; Clerkenwell ale-house, invited to 66; climb over a wall at Oxford, proposes to 186; the Club: attendance or non-attendance 252, 322, 576, 768; dislike of some of the members 576; one of the founders 25; coffee, drinks 348, 531, 739, 878, 925; cold and wet, indifferent to 243; comfort, lacks every 913; ‘a tremendous companion’ 597; companions of his childhood and youth regretted 593, 620–2; company: accompanies downstairs in hopes that they may return 257; loves 84, 210; proud to have desired 462; complaints, not given to 296, 452, 520, 827, 860, 959; complaisance 49; compliment, pleased with 915; composition, see IV, below; conduct exemplary 744; confidence in his own abilities 76, 106; conjecture, kept things floating in 698; conscience, tender 87; constant to those he employed 940; Constantinople, wishes to go to 777; constitution, strong 904; contraction of friends’ names, see abbreviations of his friends’ names; contradiction: actuated by its spirit 302, 553; exasperated by it 324; given to it 918; pleasure in it 531; conveniences, must have all 311; conversation: assists his friends by 129; in conformity with Bacon’s precept 892; the business of the Life 389; colloquial pleasantry 1005; a contest 504, 562, 824; Dempster struck by it 230; described by Boswell 22, 242, 954; – by Bowles 892; – by Miss Burney 689, 893; – by E. Dilly 579; – by Hawkins 396; – by Hogarth 85; – by Dr King 308; – by Langton 134;– by Macaulay 893;– by Malone 689, 866;– by Maxwell 321; – by Percy 695; – by Reynolds 562, 866; – by Mrs Thrale-Piozzi 893, 954; eagerness in 294; elegant as his writing 308, 892, 1005–6; its exact precision 497; good done by it 268; imaginary victories gained over him 857; labours when he says a good thing 664; nothing of the old man in it 705; originality 1000; teemed with point and imagery 664; requisites for 856–7; rule to talk his best 114, 865, 866; seizes upon Burke’s topics 777; seldom started a subject 689, 932; too strong for the great 827–8; views of the happiest kind 453, 790; vigour and vivacity 19, 209; without witness 562; ‘would learn to talk of runts’ 705; see also talk; Boswell III: Johnson; convulsions in his breast 737; convulsive starts, see peculiarities; cookery, judge of 246, 677; cottage, would like in Boswell’s park 887; country: enjoyment of 759, 763; mental imprisonment 950; spends much time in the 172; courage 422–3; Court of Justice, in a 309; courteous, see politeness; cousin, see Others: Ford, Revd Cornelius; coward, would not appear a 730; coxcomb, reply to a 530; credulity 702, 1003; critical of characters and manners 543; no croaker 976; curiosities in Scotland, collects 404–5; curiosity: about the Middle Ages, 838; his 31, 52; daily life 211, 822; dancing 808–9; dating letters 72; deafness, see hearing; death: dread of 314, 605, 607, 683, 902, 906, 913, 917–18, 923, 928, 929, 968, 985; horror of the last 178, 605; keeping away the thoughts of 307, 605–6; news of deaths fills him with melancholy 851; no dread of 422; death, his own 998–9; agitated the public mind 19; characteristical manner shows itself, 995; a kind of era 1001; described by J.B. 988–9; – by David Boswell 998; – by Hoole 988, 992, 996; – by Langton 992–3, 998–9; – by Nichols, 993–5; – by Windham’s servant 999; full of the spirit of the grammarian 989; lines on a spend-thrift 996; operates on himself 988, 997; produced a chasm 1000; refuses opiates and sustenance 997; resigned at the end 996–7, 997–9; three requests of Reynolds 996; debate, chose the wrong side in 232; debts (in 1751) 131; (in 1759 and 1760) 187; under arrest for 164; deception, above tricks of 621; decorum, condemns lack of 805–6, 812; dedications: addressed to him 375, 781, 854, 1000–1001; never used in his own books 140, 262; see also IV: dedications; defending a man, mode of 305; deference, required 531; degrees: DCL, Oxford 433, 439–41; LLD, Dublin 256; MA, Oxford 152, 256; no degree conferred by Scottish universities 403; delicacy: about Beauclerk 864; about letter to Chesterfield 141; towards a dependant 343; Demonax of the age 781; depression of mind 162; in 1761 191; deserted 842; deterre 75; dexterity in retort 866; ‘Dictionary Johnson’ 204; diffidence 88; dignity: ‘a blunt dignity about him’ 243; high notion of dignity of literature 691; lacks 970; of character 76, 144, 322; dinners: at his own house 374, 454, 462, 493, 814, 879; at the Pine Apple 61; ‘dinner to ask a man to’ 247; on his birthday, see birthday; on the way to Oxford 920; talked about them more than he thought 247; thought on them with earnestness 246; to members of the Ivy Lane Club; see also eating; discrimination, fond of 426, 675–6; disorderly habits 253, 570, 824; Dissenters and snails 404; dissipation hinted at by J.B. 95; distilling 767; distressed by poverty, see poverty; Doctor of Laws: did not use the title 256, 440; uses the title 808, 911; of Dublin 256; of Oxford 433, 439–41; dogs, separated two, see fear; Domine, displeased at being called 256; no dramatic power, see ‘tragedy writer’; draughts, played at 171, 502; drawing-room, see Bolt-court; dress: as a dramatic author 112; at a Court mourning 943; described by Beauclerk 479; – by Boswell 210, 478, 1003; – by Dr Campbell 84; – by Colman 545; – by Cumberland 699; – by Foote 478; – by Langton 134–5; – by Miss Reynolds 134; improved by association with the Thrales 699; improvements suggested by J.B. 519; in Paris 478; on his visit to Lord Marchmont 734; drinking 61; see also wine; dropsy: sudden relief from 913; operated on himself for it, see under death; Dutch, studies 401, 774; Easter meetings with J.B. 847; Easter Day: his placidity on it 531; resolutions on it 253, 256, 360, 572; East-Indian affairs, never considered 420; eating: love of good eating 246, 555; mode of 145, 246, 247; voracious 246, 804, 945–6; unaffected by kinds of food 688; see also fruit; enemies, wonders why he has 858; envy: avowed 669; possible envy of Burke 691; ‘esquire’ 440; Essex Head Club, founds the 902–3, 915; etymologist, a bad 106; evidence, a sifter of 215–16; exaggeration, dislike of, see Index of Subjects: exaggeration; excellence described by Mrs Thrale 401; executor: of Harry Porter 56; of Thrale 811; exhibited, refused to be 323; expedition, eager for an 593, 594; experiments, minute 738; eyes: colour 56; inflamed 401–2, 412; only one sound eye 28; restored to its use 165; wild and piercing 56, 245; see also sight; failing, afraid of 625; fame extended by the Life 7; fasting 374, 450, 531, 685, 875, 986; for two days 246, 688; fear: a stranger to 422; never afraid of any man 944; of great heights 469; separated fighting dogs 423; feared: at Brighton 854; at College 687; by Langton 927; ‘Fearing’ in Pilgrim’s Progress, like 422–3, 998; female charms, sensible to 54, 561; female dress, critical of 28; feudal notions 619; finger-nails to the quick, pares his 869; flattery, susceptible to 1004; fcenum habet in cornu 302; food, favourite 247; foreigners, prejudice against 75, 770; forgiving disposition 405, 956; shown to one who exceeded in wine 498, 823; fortitude 895; fox-hunting 235; France, tour to 466–79; see also IV: diaries; French: knowledge of 68, 303, 371, 466, 479, 834; writes a French letter 479; fretful 859, 861, 919; friend, a most active 952; friends (in 1752), list of 133; his frisk 136; frolic, his bitterness mistaken for 45, 932; fruit, love of 959; fun, love of 400–401; funeral 999; games: little interest in 31; played cricket 46; Gargantua 662; garret in Gough Square 176; Garrick’s success, moved by 96, 121, 297; gay and good-humoured 762, 819; general censure, disliked 937; genius, always in extremes 246, 689; gentleness 819, 865, 872; gentlewoman in liquor, helps a 497; gesticulating, averse to 777, 941; gestures, see peculiarities; ghost, like a 5, 689; see also Index of Subjects: ghosts; ‘Giant in his den’ 210; gloom of mind 102, 286; ‘saw God in clouds’ 571; godchildren, see Others: Langton, Jane; Lowe, Ann Elizabeth; Lowe Jr, Mauritius?; Mudge, William; Paterson Jr, Samuel; Goldsmith, contests with 383; good breeding 545; Good Friday observed 531; good humour 819, 825, 897; ‘a good-humoured fellow’ 455, 560; without it 316, 455; good-natured, but not good-humoured 316, 455; good sayings, forgets his 863–4; good things of life, loved the 691; gout 102, 566; due to abstinence 61; seealso health; gown, wears his MA 185; graces, valued the 545; grandfather 400; gratitude 256, 408; grave: close to Macpherson’s 422; in Westminster Abbey 999; request about it 984; great: never courted the 265, 625, 827; not courted by them 827, 943; ‘the greatest man in England next to Lord Mansfield’ 442; Greek, knowledge or study of 38, 44, 355, 567, 695, 767, 773, 979; Greek Testament 361; Green Room, in the 112, 766; grief, on bearing 595–6; Grosvenor Square, apartment in 804; gun, rashness in firing a 423; habitations, list of his 65, 742; happier in his later years 162; happiness not found in this world, 854–5; seealso Index of Subjects: happiness; hasty 861–2; hat snatched off at an election 415; head of the table, at the 691; health, chronological state of his: (1712) smallpox; scrofula, 28; (1729) hypochondria 40–41; (1730–31) severe illness 882; (1743) ‘almost well again’ 90; (1755) sickness 165; (1756) recovered from sickness 165; (1765-6) severe attack of hypochondria 254, 256; (1767) hypochondria, relieved by abstinence 286; (1768) hypochondria 286–7; severe illness at Oxford 287; (1769) ‘suffered in body and mind’ 296; ‘I hope I grow better’ 297; very ill 412; (1771) slowly recovering 335, 412; (1772) not so well 368; (1773) general improvement, but ‘vexatious catarrh’ 370; fever 401; ‘very well’ 402; good in Scotland 406; (1774) cold and cough 406; mentions ‘a dreadful illness’ 412; (1775) good in France 467; (1776) gout 563, 566; (1777) hypochondria 572; ‘difficulty of breathing’ 575; very bad 578; very ill in Lichfield 636; ‘very difficult and laborious respiration’ 637; (1778) convulsions and flatulences 641; better 643; better than when in Scotland 738; (1780) better 759, 763; (1781) pretty well 813; better 819; (1781-2) difficulty of breathing and violent cold in the winter 843; (1782) ‘battered by one disorder after another’ 840, 843, 844, 846, 848, 849–50, 854–5; (1783) very ill 855, 884, 904; palsy 888–91, 904; speech returns 989; gout 894–5; threatened with an operation 894–5; (1783-4) sudden relief from dropsy 906, 913–14; asthma 910; cough 911; consults the Scottish physicians 907–8; projected wintering in Italy 944; ALgri Epbemeris 976; see also melancholy; nights; health, general: indifferent to cold 243; no headache as a young man 243; seldom a single day of ease from his twentieth year 847; hearing, dull or defective 261, 447, 466, 473, 994; his hearth-broom 839; the Hebrides (chronological): first talk of visiting 237, 401; proposed tour 289, 367, 384, 400, 401; leaves London 402; returns 404; account of the tour 403; box of curiosities from them 404–5; pleasantest journey he ever made 569–70; pleasure in talking it over 593, 629; a ‘frolic’ 840; acquisition of ideas and images 873; no wish to go again 873; see also Index of Works and Literary Characters: Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland; Hercules, compared by J.B. to 400; hilarity 45, 400–401, 463; history, see Index of Subjects: history; holds up his head as high as he can 904; ‘home’, see Index of Places: Streatham; home uncomfortable 722; see also household; horsemanship, see riding; house at Lichfield, see Index of Places: Lichfield; houses in which he lived, see habitations; household: account of it 722; losses in, by death 842; melancholy 843; solitude 894, 895, 900, 904, 913; housekeeping: left off 175; resumed it 263; hug, his wit gives one a forcible 383; humanity, ever awake to the calls of 51, 189; see also benevolence; humility 572, 994, 1004; humour 1005; see also good humour; hungry once in his life 246; hypochondria, see health; Iceland, projected voyage to 133; idleness (chronological): in boyhood 31, 32, 38; Desidice valedixi 46; in writing the Plan 104; like Hogarth’s ‘Idle Apprentice’ 136; ‘an idle fellow all my life’ 245; (in 1760) 189; (in 1761) 191; (in 1763) 211; (in 1764) 253; (in 1767) 286; claim upon him for more writings 211, 268, 282, 500; exaggerated by himself 235, 401, 406, 572; allows no excuse for it 767; see also indolence; illness, see health; ‘Imlac’ 522; impatient 313, 315; impransus 80; incredulity as to particular extraordinary facts 392, 504, 523, 624; Hncredulus odi’ 468; independence, always asserted his 26, 31, 234, 322; indolence: ‘always felt an inclination to do nothing’ 244; constitutional 51, 113, 253; ‘little done’ 336; ingratitude, false story of his 628, 636–7; inheritance from his father 47-8; insult, would not brook 322; intemperate in eating and drinking 246; intoxicated 56; used to slinking home when 733; Hnvictum animum Catonis’ 972; irritability 710; goes to Islington for change of air 913; Italian: knowledge and study of 62, 68, 567, 839; reads or cites Ariosto 151; – Dante 387; –Il Palmerino d’Inghilterra 519; – Tasso 702; Italy (chronological), thoughts on 195; projected tour to (in 1776) 490, 491, 493; tour given up 522, 528, 533; eagerness to visit 45, 528, 533, 537; projected wintering there (in 1785) 944, 948, 949, 950, 955–6; Jacobite tendencies 28, 101, 276–7, 377, 610, 938; never ardent in the cause 227; never in a non-juring meeting-house 922; Jean Bull philosophe 246; Johnson’s Court, house in 263; kindness: advises others to practise it 243; Goldsmith’s testimony 221; in small matters 874, 953; to individuals: an Academy student 567; – to Boswell, 217–18, 237; – to a poor country boy 435; – to Tom Davies, 405–6, 645; – to Heely 279; – to a poor schoolfellow 512; – to Saunders Welch 640; – to Miss Williams 415; to servants and dependants 463, 644, 872; ‘to the unthankful’ 50, 723; the king’s evil, afflicted with and touched for 28–9; knee, takes a young Methodist on his 323; knotting, tried 654, 920; knowledge: at the age of eighteen 235; exact 695–6; of human nature 676; varied and extensive 530, 1004–5; well informed in common affairs 877; ladies, could be very agreeable to 766–7, 804; language: delicate in it 687; makes his intelligible to the meanest capacity 866; zeal for it 277; languages: interest in 173, 250; see also Dutch; French; Greek; Italian; Latin; late hours 373, 480, 634; Latin: corrects J.B.’s 272–73; knowledge of 29, 39, 40, 66, 979, 994; speaks 326, 479, 480; writes after his stroke 889; for his writings in it, see IV; laughter: hearty 463; like a rhinoceros 463; over small matters 400; resounds from Temple Bar to Fleet-ditch 401; ‘shakes laughter out of you’ 383; law, knowledge of the 495, 530, 574; consulted by J.B. 336–7, 357, 363, 461, 547; for his assistance to J.B. in writing legal papers, see IV: law arguments; lawyer: ought to have been a 690; seeks to become a 78; would have excelled as a 78; laxity of talk 251, 299; letters from and to him, see II; III; levee 134, 322; liberality 256, 644, 869; liberty: contempt of popular 293, 350–51; love of 167, 225, 294, 322, 350–51; of election 349, 444; library described by J.B. 230; S.J. puts his books in order and dusts them 522, 554; Lichfield, house at, see Index of Places: Lichfield; in the Lichfield play-house 423; lie, use of the word 789; life: balance of misery in 929–32; dark views of it 1004; horror of it 102; more to be endured than enjoyed 325; not wish to live over again 326; struggles hard for it 963; would give one of his legs for a year of it 994; Literary Club, see Club, the; literary property, see Index of Subjects: copyright; lives and memoirs of 19; Lords, did not quote authority of 865; see also great; Lord Chancellor, might have been 690; loses: five guineas by hiding them 773; his spurs and stick, see stick; in love: with Hector’s sister 510; with Mrs Emmet, an actress 513; with Olivia Lloyd 54; madness: confounds it with melancholy 618; dreaded 42; ‘mad, at least not sober’ 25, 42; often near it 572; mankind: less expected of 894; opinion of 651; manners: had been an advantage 927; Malone and Mickle never heard a severe thing or rough word from him 900–901, 951; ‘nice observer of behaviour’ 545; only external 455, 562; refuted 218; roughness 210, 267, 296, 316, 462, 670–71, 918; marriage 56; MA degree of Oxford 77, 149, 152–4; medicine, see physic; melancholy: confounds it with madness 618; constitutional 107, 1004; distressed by it 235–6; inherited ‘a vile melancholy’ 25; ‘morbid’ 40, 183; remedies against it 107, 235, 500; see also health; memory: complains of its failure 256; extraordinary early instances 27, 31; Latin verses discussed at college 687–8; Lewis’s lines on Pope 933; The Old Man’s Wish 772; other obscure verse 769–70, 922; men, willing to take them as they are 676; metaphysics, fond of 44; method in life, want of 570; Middle Ages, interest in the 838, 859; military matters, interest in 719; Militia, drawn from the 939; his mind: always ready for use 114, 1005; means of quieting it 171; moderation: absence of in his character 804; in wine difficult 498; see also abstinence; modesty 562; money, awkward at counting 777; monuments: epitaph 1002; in Lichfield Cathedral 1001; in St Paul’s Cathedral 1001; see also inscriptions; mother: ‘called’ by her 815; last illness and death 181, 325; takes her debt upon himself 93; wishes to visit her 157; see also III; Others: Johnson, Sarah; music: affected by it 630, 774; bought a flageolet 654; had he learned to play would have done nothing else 654; insensible to its power 630; listens to the fiddle 630; talks slightingly of it 361, 481; would have been glad to have a new sense given him 481; narrowness, occasionally troubled with a fit of 869; nature: affected by 157; would not brook it 322; newspapers: accustomed to think little of them 848; constantly mentioned in them 561, 702, 834; false reports of him in them 415, 643, 686; ‘maintained’ them 269; reads the London Chronicle regularly 313; nights: restless 336, 569, 641, 720, 723; when sleepless translated Greek into Latin verse 979; ‘No, Sir’, use of, see Index of Subjects: ‘No, Sir’; oak stick for Foote and Macpherson 423; oaths, see swearing; obscenity, disapproves of or represses 295, 927; observant of dress or behaviour 545; Oddity, as they call him’ 635; old, never liked to think of being 686, 689; old man in his talk, nothing of the 705; opium, takes 859, 910, 960; oracle, a kind of public 322; orange peel, use of 439; Oxford undergraduate 38; pain: courage in bearing 894; never totally free from it 847; operates on himself 988; painting, account of his feelings towards it 874–5, 941; buyer of prints 909; despises the Exhibition 194; disapproves of women painting portraits 455;praises Barry’s pictures 886; palsy, struck with, see health, chronological (1783); pamphlets written against him 834; papers: burns his own 19, 63, 733, 992; not to be burnt 488; would be a Papist if he could 923; Parliament: attempts made to bring him into it, 332–3; eulogized in it by Burke 992–3; Passion-week: defends dining out in it 812; dines with two bishops 812; writes a paper on it in Rambler 120, 812; pathos, want of 787; patience 532; payment for his writings, see IV: payments; peculiarities: absence of mind 803; astonish Hogarth 85; avoiding an alley 254; blowing out his breath 255, 605; convulsive starts 56; entering a room 254; gesticulation 58; half-whistling 255, 716; in riding 1003; inarticulate sounds or mutterings 255, 555; mentioned by Pope 84; mimicked by Garrick 437; puffing hard with passion 670; rolling 682, 716, 803, 823, 1003; shaking his head and body 255; striding across a floor 84; talking to himself 31, 254, 892; penance in Uttoxeter market 971; pension, see Index of Subjects: pension; personal appearance: described by J.B. 1003; fingers and nails 869; in his youth 56; in The Race 280; majestic or robust frame 243, 248; philology, a favourite pursuit 781; philosophy, study of 13; physic: ‘great dabbler in it’ 604; knowledge of, or interest in 92, 191, 530, 592, 611, 959–60; prescribes for Langton 454; physicians, esteem for 926; piety, constant and fervent 248; plagiarism 178; prejudice against players, see Index of Subjects: players; poetical mind 604, 1005; poetry, loved 44; see also IV: poetry; his politeness 156, 283, 325, 562, 702, 833; political character, opinions and principles 167, 199, 321–2; see also Tory; politician, intention of becoming a 257; ‘un politique aux choux et aux raves’ 698; ‘Pom-poso’ 216; portraits: Reynolds’s portraits: –painted in 1756, presented by R. to J.B. and engraved for the Life 208; – painted in 1769, the ‘Knole’ portrait 335; – version of this owned by Beauclerk and Langton 864; post-chaise, delight in a, see Index of Subjects: post-chaise; poverty 45, 46–7, 61, 71, 73, 75, 77, 93, 94, 164, 256, 777; praise: disliked extravagant 646, 809; loved, but did not seek 1004; pleasing to him 140; prayer, the act of 261; prayers, see Index of Subjects: prayers; Index of Works and Literary Characters: Prayers and Meditations; prejudices 75, 858; Presbyterian service, would not attend a 705; pride, defensive 144; principles and practice, see Index of Subjects: principles; prints, see painting; Professor of the Royal Academy 296; provincial accents 345, 512, 629; property 920; provoked by J.B.’s quoting his writings against him 915; public affairs, refused to talk of 861; public amusements, a great friend of 350; public singer, on preparing himself for a 458; public speaking 333; punctuality, not used to 118; punish, quick to 455; puns, despises 388; puns himself 698, 804, 809; querulous, never 520; questioning, disliked 450, 547, 667; races, runs 467; Ranelagh, feelings on entering 630; rank, respect for, see birth and rank; rationality, obstinate 923; read to: dislikes being 343, 773; permits J.B. and Goldsmith to 692, 825; reading: aloud, 373; Amelia without stopping 541; amount of his 44–5, 282–3; at college 44; before college 38, 44, 235; does not read books through 44, 380; in the early part of his life 283; ‘like a Turk’ 994; rapidly 44; ravenously 677; Virgil 416, 883–4; when travelling 245, 519, 936; recitation, described by J.B. 304, 534; ‘recommending’ the dead, see Index of Subjects: the dead; reconciliation, ready to seek a 316, 398, 669, 671; rectory, offer of a 172, 251, 323; red ink or pencil, uses 416, 441, 796; refinement, high estimation of 545; relatives, no near ones 989; religion: brought back by sickness 882; did not trouble to defend 496; early impressions of, derived from his mother 26, 42; early indifference to 42, 882; estimated by Goldsmith 384; for some years totally regardless of 882; a lax talker against 43; predominant object of his thoughts 43, 165, 325; suffers remorse 95; residences, see habitations; resistance to bad government lawful 293, 350; resolutions: ‘fifty-five years spent in resolving’ 253; neglected 839; rarely efficacious 319; respect: maintains that due to him 691; shows to a Doctor in Divinity 325; respected by others, but loved by J.B. and Mrs Thrale 493; reveries, fell into 84; riding 1003; seealso fox-hunting; ringleader of a riot 942-3; rising, time of 269, 336, 481, 804; roars people down 603, 680; never robbed 322; romances, love of 31, 520; roughness, see manners; roundhouse, put in 423; Round Robin, receives 563; rural beauties, little taste for 243 (but see also nature); sacrament, received at deathbed 913, 998; St Clement Danes, his seat in 374; St James’s Square, walks with Savage round 94; St John’s Gate reverences 66; St Vitus’s dance, suffers from 84; same one day as another, not the 627; sarcastic in the defence of good principles 267; satires, explosions of 562; saving, propensity to paltry 869; sayings, not accurately reported 441; scenery, see nature; schemes: for a better life 253, 888; for classes 58; school: at Edial, see Index of Places: Edial; his ‘school’ described by Courtenay 123; – by Reynolds 648; – distinguished for truthfulness and accuracy 648; – Goldsmith one of its brightest ornaments 221; – Reynolds belongs to it 723; school life 30; see also Index of Places: Lichfield; Scotland, tour in: concise account of 403–4; did not wish to make the same journey again 873; proposed and talked of 334, 337, 367, 368, 384, 402; talked over with J.B. 629; Scots, feelings towards, see Index of Places: Scotland and the Scots; scrupulous, not weakly 986; see also Index of Subjects: scruples; seasons, effect of, see Index of Subjects: weather and seasons; second sight, see Index of Subjects: second sight; his Seraglio 722; Shakespeare in his childhood, read 44; shoes worn out 46; shorthand, denies ability of Cavendish to report speeches accurately in 379; short-sighted, see sight; not shy 904; sight: account of it by J.B. 1003; account of it in his French diary 477; defective as a child and boy 26, 31, 42–43, 879; in observing scenes 28, 624, 936; inflamed eye 401–2; only one good eye 27; restored to its use 165; short-sighted 339, 670; silence: at meals 246; fits of 373, 689; silver buckles 699; silver plate 814; sincerity unquestionable 987; singularity, dislike of 261, 943; sins never balanced against virtues 987; slavery, hatred of, see Index of Subjects: slaves and slavery; sleep, see nights; small things, attention to 869; smoke, did not 171; truly social 92; society, mixes with polite 48, 49, 434, 448, 514, 753, 812, 823, 827–8, 847, 943, 944, 961; solitude: hatred of 162, 742, 1004; suffers from 900; see also household; ‘soothed’ 319; sophistry 293, 414, 755; sought after nobody 693; speaking, mode of 437; see also public speaking; spirit, lofty 972; spirit, wishes for more evidence for 340, 928; see also supernatural agency; splendour on £600 a year 949; sportiveness 400; stately shop, deals at 940; statues, see monuments; stick 423; a straggler 688; strangers no restraint on his talk 499, 920; Streatham: his farewell to it 853; his ‘home’ 301, 950; his late hours there 480; studied behaviour, disapproves of 247; study: advice about 227, 936; time for it 767; style, see IV; subordination, see Index of Subjects: subordination; Sunday, observation of, see Index of Subjects: Sunday; superiority over his fellows 30; supernatural agency, willingness to examine relations of 216; see also spirit; superstition, prone to 1003; see also Index of Subjects: ghosts; supper not eaten 688; ‘surly virtue’ 555; swearing: disapproves of 295, 625; Murphy asks his pardon 539; rebukes J.B. for 317; ‘swore enough’ 882; swimming 186, 423; talk: ‘his little fishes would talk like whales’ 383; loved to have his talk out 648; made it a rule to talk his best 114, 865; not restrained by strangers 499, 920; talked alike to all 435; talked calmly in private 702; talked for victory 386, 824; ‘tossed and gored’ several people 296; tossed J.B. 706; see also conversation; talking to himself, see peculiarities; tanti men, dislike of 825; taste in theatrical merit not refined 513; tea: drank at all hours 169; drank very plentifully 322; effects of it on him 169; takes it every night with Miss Williams 223; his teachers: Dame Oliver 29; Tom Brown 29; Hawkins 29; Hunter 29; Wentworth 31; teaching men, pleasure in 311; temper: easily offended 710, 1004; violent 562, 680, 685, 706, 730; violent passion 860; tenderness of conscience 87; tenderness of heart 237, 296; about Dr Brocklesby’s offer 949; about friendship with Hoole 963; about his friends’ efforts for an increased pension 949; at deathbed of Catherine Chambers 285–6; by kissing Streatham Church 854; in reciting Beattie’s Hermit 867; terror, an object of 237; tests his faculties 774; theatres, attends more than formerly 194; attends Mrs Abington’s benefit 436; left off going to 267; thinking: excelled in the art of 1004–5; loses command over his thoughts 361; thought more than he read 283; intimacy with Thrales: gross supposition about it 522; happiness from it 950; not without restraint 522; on toleration 394–7; a Tory: might have written A Tory History of England 784; ‘not in the party sense’ 321; ‘touched’ for the king’s evil 28; the town his element 962; see also Index of Places: London I; ‘a tragedy-writer’ 60; loves rapid movement 610; reason for his failure as 111; ‘a tremendous companion’ 597; ‘a true-born Englishman’ 75, 423, 869; truthfulness: exact precision in conversation 497, 647; held sacred by him 189, 985; his ‘school’ distinguished for it 648; regard for a servant’s 230; scrupulously inquisitive to discover it 392; unchastity hinted at by J.B. 985; his uncles, see Others: Ford, Dr Joseph; Johnson, Andrew; unsocial shyness, free from 904; utterance, slow deliberate 436, 1006; valetudinarianism, dislike of 518; his vine 738; Virgil: often quoted Optima quæque dies 328; reads 416, 883; vocation to public life 962; voice: deep and sonorous 284, 994; loud 396, 603, 1006; vows, disapproves of 272, 716; Wales, tour to, see Index of Places: Wales; his walk in the Temple 244; warrants said to be issued against him 83; watch, dial-plate of 292; watchman, mistaken for a 497; water-drinking, advocates 689; waterfall, at Dr Taylor’s 626; weather, influence of, see Index of Subjects: weather and seasons; Westminster Police Court, attendance at the 640; wife (chronological): affection for 56, 58, 129–32, 301; disagreements with 132; death 129, 130, 131, 150, 162; death alluded to in his letter to Chesterfield 142; anniversary of the day of her death 130; funeral sermon 132; grave and epitaph 132, 957, 985; his grief 129–32; her loss almost broke his heart 688, 750; ‘recommended’ 261; wishes for her in Paris 472; wig: Paris-made 699; unpowdered and too small 210; will, averse to making it 989; wine: abstains from 253, 498, 658; arguments against drinking 704–5; declines inebriating liquor on his deathbed 997; drinks a toast in water 743; drinks too much 733; use of 213, 218, 656, 688, 729; wit: account of by Garrick 383; extraordinary readiness 562; women of the town: rescues one 941; talks with them 986; words, see IV; ‘did his work in a workman-like manner’ 551; world: ‘a man of the’ 226; had been long ‘running about it’ 121; knowledge of the 529; never complained of 827, 859; never sought it 860; young people, loves 235; youth, pleasure in talking of the days of his 972
II Letters
General (chronological): J.B.’s appeal to owners to publish them 17; some lost 50, 131; an effort to write them 249; date omitted or wrong 255, 408; returns, not answers 410, 636; those to Scotland franked by Strahan 721; puts as little as possible into them 820; permits J.B. to copy some 874; publication by Mrs Piozzi, see Others: Thrale, Hester Lynch.
Letters to particular persons printed in full or in part, or precisely described: to Edmund Allen 888; to Thomas Astle 838; to the Revd T. Bagshaw 399, 957; to (Sir) Joseph Banks 336; to Francis Barber 294, 320; to Baretti 193, 197, 202; to Jakes Barry 874; to Beattie 758; to Birch 92, 126; to Mr B[on]d 370; to J.B. 248, 262, 272, 292, 298, 317, 334, 337, 368, 369, 402–3, 404, 406–7, 408, 410, 411, 413, 415, 416, 417, 418, 420, 421, 427, 428, 463, 464–6, 468, 481, 482, 484, 485–7, 487–8, 489, 490, 541, 565, 569, 570, 575, 576, 578, 586, 587, 590, 592, 593, 595, 636, 639, 673, 719, 723, 725, 734, 736, 737, 747, 748, 750, 758, 763, 803, 840, 847, 849, 850, 851, 852, 855, 890, 895, 899, 906, 907, 909, 955, 957, 974, 975; to Mrs Boswell 564, 591, 852; to Mme de Boufflers 479; to Dr Brocklesby 891, 958–62; to Dr Burney 156, 174, 176, 261, 894, 963, 974; to the Earl of Bute 200, 202; to Edward Cave 53, 62, 71–2, 79–80, 89–90; to (Sir) Robert Chambers 148; to Mrs Chapone 898; to Chesterfield 142; to Richard Clark 905; to a clergyman at Bath 848; to a young clergyman, see Charles Lawrence, below; to Dr Cruickshank 894, 967; to Tom Davies 889, 967; to Charles Dilly 736, 904; to Edward Dilly (really written to W. Sharp) 589; to Dr Dodd 600, 602; to William Drummond 277–9;to Dr Edwards 722; to James Elphinston 117–18; to Dr Farmer 319, 754; to Samuel Ford 59; to Richard Green 984; to W. G. Hamilton 897, 965; to Warren Hastings 801–2; to Edmund Hector 50, 846–7, 974; to Heely 970; to John Hoole 416, 963–4; to Ozias Humphrey 912; to John Hussey 723; to Charles Jenkinson (1st Earl of Liverpool) 601; to a Lady, asking for a recommendation 197; to Bennet Langton 157, 174, 180, 181, 190, 268, 269, 286, 332, 335, 338, 411, 454, 463, 588, 721, 837, 845, 895–6, 910–11, 957, 964; to Miss Jane Langton 913; to Charles Lawrence 759; to Dr Thomas Lawrence 421, 750, 840, 844; to Robert Levett 412, 466, 569; to Theophilus Levett 93; to James Macpherson 422; to Malone 843; to Metcalfe 854; to Dr Mudge 894; – described as ‘an eminent friend’ 667; to John Nichols 795, 854, 969; to George Nicol 966; to Charles O’Conor 173, 580; to John Paradise 966; to John Perkins 415, 828, 850, 905, 965; to Lucy Porter 468, 735, 813, 843–4, 875, 890, 904, 906, 985; to Reynolds 255, 335, 336, 562, 563, 567, 811, 838, 854, 874, 884, 887, 902, 920, 955, 967–8; to Joseph Simpson 185; to Dr Staunton 196; to George Steevens 407, 572; to W. Strahan 571, 720; to Mrs Strahan 819, 842; to Dr Taylor 131, 888, 912; to Mrs Thrale 752, 754, 888, 896, 897; to Susannah Thrale 897; to Lord Chancellor Thurlow 956; to the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, Dr Huddesford 153; – Dr Fothergill 441; to Dr Vyse 588; to Dr Joseph Warton 137, 320; to the Revd Thomas Warton 146, 149–52, 154, 173, 179, 180, 297, 319; to Saunders Welch 640; to John Wesley 736; to Dr Wetherell 491; to Dr Wheeler 722; to the Revd W. White 371; to the Revd T. Wilson 854; to Windham 887, 965.
III Letters written to Johnson
By Dr Birch 155; by J.B., see Boswell III; by Mrs Boswell 853; by Sir A. Dick 574–5; by Dr Dodd 599–600, 602; by Mrs Thrale 752; by Lord Thurlow 763.
IV Writings (including diaries, journals and projected works, but
excluding epistolary letters) and matters relating to them
Specific works are entered in the Index of Works and Literary Characters under their titles.
adversaria 114; advertisements 12, 14; Annales 46; see also diaries; biography, excellence in 19, 139; Biographia Britannica, asked to edit 791; catalogue of his prose works 10–17; complete list asked for by his friends 66, 697; his own imperfect list, Historia Studiorum 697; one supplied to J.B. by Percy 697; charade 871; college and school exercises 32, 39, 40, 44, 935; composition: general 268, 322, 446, 884, 969; in Debates 994; in Life of Savage 96; in Rambler 113, 540; in Rasselas 182; in translation from the French 834; in Vanity of Human Wishes 108, 268; never wrote fair copies 782, 935; rapidity 62, 446, 881; shown in college exercises 40, 44; wrote not for pleasure 884; dedications: skill in writing 262, 379–80; written by him 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 53, 92, 139, 188, 195, 196, 204, 262, 276, 286, 581; diaries: Annales 46; Diary, burnt 19, 137, 992; fragments preserved 20, 46, 139; quoted by J.B. 44, 46, 50, 256, 276, 285–6, 336, 416, 917; seen by J.B. 992; ‘a small duodecimo volume’ owned by J.B. 114; diary of his tour to France 469–78; see also journal; Index of Works and Literary Characters: Prayers and Meditations; dictionary-making, see Index of Works and Literary Characters: Dictionary of the English Language; election addresses 16, 752, 762; epitaphs: Essay on Epitaphs 11, 85, 179; wholly or partly composed by him 562–3, 768, 793, 957, 984; fable, sketch of one 383; Greek Anthology, translates from 979; Greek epigrams 72, 82; introductions, see prefaces; journal: attempts to keep a 375; specimens of 164, 261; see also diaries; Latin poems 40, 67, 291, 336, 421; Latin versions of English poems 40, 91; Latin versions of Greek epigrams 979; poemata, ed. Langton, see Others: Langton, Bennet; law arguments dictated to J.B. 15, 16, 357–9, 363–7, 389–92, 460, 461, 548–51, 632–3, 805, 835–6; letter to General Advertiser 12, 126; to Gentleman’s Magazine 95; payments received (chronological): for translation of Lobo’s Abyssinia, five guineas 51; for London, ten guineas 73; translation of Sarpi, £49 78; part payment for Historical Account of Parliament, two guineas a sheet 90; for correction of Boulter’s Monument, ten guineas 171; for Dictionary, £1, 575 (out of which payments to amanuenses were made) 104, 165; for introduction to London Chronicle, one guinea 171; for Rasselas, £100 + £25 for the second edition 182; for Lives of the Poets, 200 guineas originally agreed on 580, 781; £100 added 781; poetry: juvenile poems 32, 54; made verses and forgot them 268; pleasure in writing poetry 884; political writing 15, 16, 199, 414, 431–2; see also election addresses; postscript by him 12, 127–8; prefaces: skill in writing 81; prefaces, introductions, or preliminary addresses written by him, wholly or in part 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 81, 86, 88, 89, 100, 108, 127–8, 166, 171, 185, 188–9, 191–2, 196, 276, 369, 417, 446, 868; projected works: account of Parliament 88; a Bibliothèque 154–5; edition of Cowley 533; life of Alfred 101; life of Bacon 628; life of Cromwell 892; history of British Arms 189; on fictions 892; on Italy 529; translation of the Lusiad 901; prologues by him 103, 110–11, 126, 285, 287, 581–2, 776; proposals written by him 12, 16, 53, 100, 171–2, 417, 530, 577; reply to an attack 14; reviews by him 13, 14, 15, 166–9, 218, 253; one by Murphy ascribed to him 167; revision of his writings 331; school exercises, see college and school exercises; sermons: asked to write a funeral sermon 324; composed by him 17, 132, 598, 621; style: account of it 121–5; ‘Brownism’ 123, 166; caricatures of it 286, 456, 616, 981; compared with Addison’s 125; criticized by others 616, 789; criticizes it himself 616; defends it 616; dislikes Gallicisms/‘the former, the latter ‘/parentheses 868; formed on writers of seventeenth century 122; formed on Temple and Chambers 122; imitations of it 616, 796, 980, 981, 982, 983, 984; of the translation of Lobo 51; of the Plan of the Dictionary 105; of The Rambler 121; praised by Shenstone 505; raises his own colloquial style 940; translates for booksellers 77; words: added to the language 123; charged with using hard and big words 105, 625, 784; ‘familiarized terms of philosophy’ 121; needs words of large meaning 122, 616–17; works: booksellers’ edition by Hawkins and others 597, 942; complete edition intended by him 697; right to publish an edition reserved by him 109, 994; writings: abortive, lost or unidentified 10, 54, 79, 281, 291, 611; erroneously or doubtfully ascribed to him 82, 103, 167.
BOSWELL
Principal Events of His Life
1759 Keeps an exact journal 229
Enters Glasgow University 245
1760 First visit to London 204
1762 Second visit to London 205
1763 Gets to know Johnson 204, 208
Studies at Utrecht 248
1764-5 Travels in Germany, Switzerland and Italy 230, 374
1765 Visits Corsica 262
1766Visits Paris 262
Returns from abroad 263
Visits London 263–8
Publishes ‘Thesis in Civil Law’, Disputatio Juridica, and admitted as an advocate 271
1767Acquainted with men of eminence 267
Publishes Essence of the Douglas Cause 382
Purchases Dalblair 634
1768 Publishes An Account of Corsica 287
Visits London and Oxford 287–96
1769Visits Ireland 343
Visits London 297–318
First visit to Streatham 301
Attends the Stratford Jubilee 297
Marriage 334
1770–71 Gap in his correspondence with Johnson of nearly a year and a half 334
1772 Visits London 338–67
1773 Visits London 372–401
Elected a member of the Club 385, 387
Gets to know Burke 387
Tour to the Hebrides with Johnson 403
1775 Visits London 429–63
Johnson assigns him a room in his house 462
Visits Wilton and Mamhead 460
Birth of his eldest son Alexander 467
1776 Disagrees with his father about the settlement of his estate 483
Visits London 493–8, 521–61
Becomes Paoli’s constant guest when in London 536
Visits Oxford, Birmingham, Lichfield and Ashbourne with Johnson 493, 498–521