TO DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON. "MY DEAR SIR, "Glasgow, April 24, 1777. "Our worthy friend Thrale's death having appeared in the newspapers, and been afterwards contradicted, I have been placed in a state of very uneasy uncertainty, from which I hope to be relieved by you; but my hopes have as yet been vain. How could you omit to write to me on such an occasion? I shall wait with anxiety.-I am going to Auchinleck to stay a fortnight with my father. It is better not to be there very long at one time. But frequent renewals of attention are agreeable to him. "Pray tell me about this edition of 'English Poets, with a Preface, biographical and critical, to each Author, by Samuel Johnson, LL. D.' which I see advertised. I am delighted with the prospect of it. Indeed, I am happy to feel that I am capable of being so much delighted with literature. But is not the charm of this publication chiefly owing to the magnum nomen in the front of it? "What do you say of Lord Chesterfield's Memoirs and last letters ?1 'My wife has made marmalade of oranges for you. I left her and my daughters and Alexander all well yesterday. I have taught Veronica to speak of you thus; Dr. Johnson not Johnston. "I remain, &c., "DEAR SIR, "JAMES BOSWELL." TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. "May 3, 1777. "The story of Mr. Thrale's death, as he had neither been sick nor in any other danger, made so little impression upon me, that I never thought about obviating its effects on any body else. It is supposed to have been produced by the English custom of making April fools; that is, of sending one another on some foolish errand on the first of April. "Tell Mrs. Boswell that I shall taste her marmalade cautiously at first. Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. Beware, says the Italian pro 1 Dr. Maty's posthumous edition of the Memoirs and Miscellaneous Works of Lord Chesterfield, edited by Mr. Justamond, and published by Edward and Charles Dilly early in 1777.-Croker. verb, of a reconciled enemy. But when I find it does me no harm, I shall then receive it, and be thankful for it, as a pledge of firm, and, I hope, of unalterable kindness. She is, after all, a dear, dear lady. "Please to return Dr. Blair thanks for his sermons. write English wonderfully well. The Scotch "Your frequent visits to Auchinleck, and your short stay there, are very laudable and very judicious. Your present concord with your father gives me great pleasure; it was all that you seemed to want. "My health is very bad, and my nights are very unquiet. What can I do to mend them? I have for this summer nothing better in prospect than a journey into Staffordshire and Derbyshire, perhaps with Oxford and Birmingham in my way. "Make my compliments to Miss Veronica; I must leave it to her philosophy to comfort you for the loss of little David. You must remember, that to keep three out of four is more than your share. Mrs. Thrale has but four out of eleven. "I am engaged to write little Lives, and little Prefaces, to a little edition of the English Poets. I think I have persuaded the booksellers to insert something of Thomson; and if you could give me some information about him, for the life which we have is very scanty, I should be glad. “I am, dear Sir, &c., "SAM. JOHNSON." To those who delight in tracing the progress of works of literature, it will be an entertainment to compare the limited design with the ample execution of that admirable performance, "The Lives of the English Poets," which is the richest, most beautiful, and, indeed, most perfect production of Johnson's pen. His notion of it at this time appears in the preceding letter. He has a memorandum in this year :— "May 29, Easter eve, I treated with booksellers on a bargain, but the time was not long." (Pr. and Med., p. 149.) The bargain was concerning that undertaking; but his tender conscience seems alarmed, lest it should have intruded too much on his devout preparation for the solemnity of the ensuing day. But, indeed, very little time was necessary for Johnson's concluding a treaty with the booksellers; as he had, I believe, less attention to profit from his labours, than any man to whom literature has been a profession. I shall here insert, from a letter to me from my late worthy friend Mr. Edward Dilly, though of a later date, an account of this plan, so happily conceived, since it was the occasion of procuring for us an elegant collection of the best biography and criticism of which our language can boast. "DEAR SIR, TO JAMES BOSWELL, ESQ. "Southill, Sept. 20, 1777. "You find by this letter, that I am still in the same calm retreat, from the noise and bustle of London, as when I wrote to you last. I am happy to find you had such an agreeable meeting with your old friend Dr. Johnson: I have no doubt your stock is much increased by the interview; few men, nay, I may say, scarcely any man has got that fund of knowledge and entertainment as Dr. Johnson in conversation. When he opens freely, every one is attentive to what he says, and cannot fail of improvement as well as pleasure. "The edition of the poets, now printing, will do honour to the English press; and a concise account of the life of each author, by Dr. Johnson, will be a very valuable addition, and stamp the reputation of this edition superior to anything that is gone before. The first cause that gave rise to this undertaking, I believe, was owing to the little trifling edition of the poets, printing by the Martins at Edinburgh, and to be sold by Bell in London. Upon examining the volumes which were printed, the type was found so extremely small, that many persons could not read them: not only this inconvenience attended it, but the inaccuracy of the press was very conspicuous. These reasons, as well as the idea of an invasion of what we call our Literary Property, induced the London booksellers to print an elegant and accurate edition of all the English poets of reputation, from Chaucer to the present time. "Accordingly a select number of the most respectable booksellers met on the occasion: and on consulting together, agreed, that all the proprietors of copyright in the various poets should be summoned together; and when their opinions were given, to proceed immediately on the business. Accordingly a meeting was held, consisting of about forty of the most respectable booksellers of London, when it was agreed that an elegant and uniform edition of The English Poets' should be immediately printed, with a concise account of the life of each author, by Dr. Samuel Johnson; and that three persons should be deputed to wait upon Dr. Johnson, to solicit him to undertake the 'Lives,' viz. T. Davies, Strahan, and Cadell. The Doctor very politely undertook it, and seemed exceedingly pleased with the proposal. "As to the terms, it was left entirely to the Doctor to name his own: he mentioned two hundred guineas; it was immediately agreed to; and a farther compliment, I believe, will be made him. A committee was likewise appointed to engage the best engravers, viz. Bartolozzi, Sherwin, Hall, &c. Likewise another committee for giving directions about the paper, printing, &c.; so that the whole will be conducted with spirit, and in the best manner, with respect to authorship, editorship, engravings, &c. &c. My brother will give you a list of the poets we mean to give, many of which are within the time of the Act of Queen Anne, which Martin and Bell cannot give, as they have no property in them: the proprietors are almost all the booksellers in London of consequence. I am, dear Sir, ever yours, "EDWARD DILLY." I shall afterwards have occasion to consider the extensive and varied range which Johnson took, when he was once led upon ground which he trode with a peculiar delight, having long been intimately acquainted with all the circumstances of it that could interest and please. DR. JOHNSON TO CHARLES O'CONNOR, ESQ.' "SIR, "May 19, 1777. "Having had the pleasure of conversing with Dr. Campbell about your character and your literary undertaking, I am resolved to gratify myself by renewing a correspondence which began and ended 1 Johnson's moderation in demanding so small a sum is extraordinary. Had he asked one thousand, or even fifteen hundred guineas, the booksellers, who knew the value of his name, would doubtless have readily given it. They have probably got five thousand guineas by this work in the course of twenty-five years.—Malone. 2 Mr. Joseph Walker, of the Treasury, Dublin, who obligingly communicated to me this and a former letter from Dr. Johnson to the same gentleman (vol. i., p. 260) writes to me as follows:-"Perhaps it would a great while ago, and ended, I am afraid, by my fault; a fault which, if you have not forgotten it, you must now forgive. "If I have ever disappointed you, give me leave to tell you that you have likewise disappointed me. I expected great discoveries in Irish antiquity, and large publications in the Irish language; but the world still remains as it was, doubtful and ignorant. What the Irish language is in itself, and to what language it has affinity, are very interesting questions, which every man wishes to see resolved that has any philological or historical curiosity. Dr. Leland begins his history too late the ages which deserve an exact inquiry are those times (for such there were) when Ireland was the school of the West, the quiet habitation of sanctity and literature. If you could give a history, though imperfect, of the Irish nation, from its conversion to Christianity to the invasion from England, you would amplify knowledge with new views and new objects. Set about it, therefore, if you can: do what you can easily do without anxious exactness. Lay the foundation, and leave the superstructure to posterity. I am, Sir, your humble servant, "SAM. JOHNSON." Early in this year came out, in two volumes quarto, the posthumous works of the learned Dr. Zachary Pearce, bishop of Rochester; being "A Commentary, with Notes, on the four Evangelists and the Acts of the Apostles," with other theological pieces. Johnson had now an opportunity of making a grateful return to that excellent prelate, who, we have seen, was the only person who gave him any assistance in the compilation of his Dictionary. The bishop had left some account of his life and character, written by himself. To this Johnson made some valuable additions, and also furnished to the editor, the Rev. Mr. Derby,1 a dedicagratify you to have some account of Mr. O'Connor. He is an amiable, learned, venerable, old gentleman, of an independent fortune, who lives at Belanagar, in the county of Roscommon; he is an admired writer and member of the Irish Academy. The above letter is alluded to in the Preface to the second edition of his Dissert., p. 3." Mr. O'Connor afterwards died at the age of eighty-two. See a well-drawn character of him in the Gentleman's Magazine for August, 1791. In the Appendix to this volume further particulars regarding O'Connor and his relations with Johnson will be found.-Editor. 1 Rector of Southfleet and Longfield in Kent. He had married Bishop Pearce's niece.- Croker. |