Dr Johnson

Dr Johnson is usually remembered for two things - his English Dictionary which although not the first, is the landmark dictionary, the associated angry letter to the Earl of Chesterfield which rebuked the nobleman for his lack of support, and Boswell's account of Johnson's personality and conversation.  Boswell's account of Johnson has overshadowed Johnson's actual achievements. Instead, Johnson should be remembered for his pioneering Lives of the English Poets, which established biography as an art form, his novel Rasselas Prince of Abyssinia which not only sold well in Britain but across Europe, and his satire (based on Juvenal's satire): The Vanity of Human Wishes which is one of the great poems written in English in the mid 18th century . Both Rasselas and The Vanity of Human Wishes, expose the shortsightedness and futility of commonplace desires, whether it be the wish for political power, longevity and so on. In short, he should be recognised for his learning and his writing. The noted scholar of 18th Century literature in English, Neil Curry, explores the case for re-thinking Johnson's contribution in:  Samuel Johnson, Writer.