Dr. Johnson and His Circle

Bailey, John Cann, 1864-1931Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 330K words
Chapters: 33

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Dr. Johnson and His Circle by John Cann BaileyAuthor: Bailey, John Cann, 1864-1931,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Dec 28, 2007

Editor's review

This is an English literary biography by John Cann Bailey, centering on the eighteenth-century English literary giant Samuel Johnson and his circle of friends. In a relaxed, essayistic style, the author traces Johnson's life, his contradictory character, and his literary achievements, while also portraying his friendships with Reynolds, Boswell, and others, giving readers a glimpse of a literary age woven through coffeehouses and clubs. Its value lies not in elaborate scholarship but in readability: Bailey excels at drawing character out of anecdotes and letters, restoring a lexicographer famed for erudition and eloquence to a flesh-and-blood elder who is both admirable and endearing. As a public-domain ebook, the text is the original English, moderate in length, and well suited as supplementary introductory reading in English literary history and biography. In terms of reading situations, it can be read alongside selections from The Life of Samuel Johnson, or savored slowly at one or two chapters a day during commutes or before bed, experiencing the rhythm and charm of eighteenth-century English prose.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in eighteenth-century English literature and literary circles
Beginners who want an accessible account of Samuel Johnson's life
Readers with some English reading ability who prefer essayistic biography
Those who want to establish background on the figure before reading The Life of Samuel Johnson

Not a good fit for

Readers with no English reading ability and no bilingual edition
Literary scholars expecting rigorous academic scholarship and extensive annotations
Readers who want only Johnson's own works rather than a critical biography

Reading tips

Read the overview of Johnson's life first to establish a timeline, then return to the sections on friendships and character
Read one or two chapters a day and jot down Johnson's witty remarks quoted in the book for later reference
Read alongside selections from Boswell's Life of Johnson to compare how different authors portray the same figure
Skip unfamiliar names at first and look them up after finishing a chapter, so as not to interrupt the reading rhythm

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a work by Johnson himself?

No. It is a critical biography by John Cann Bailey introducing Johnson's life, character, and his circle of literary friends. It is a secondary study, not Johnson's original work.

How difficult is the English?

The text is English prose from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, with somewhat longer sentences than modern English and rather formal diction, but the narrative is generally clear and low in jargon. A college-level reading ability in English is enough to read it through; allusions can be skipped.

Do I need to know eighteenth-century English history first?

No systematic preparation is necessary. The book is driven by people and anecdotes, and historical background emerges naturally through the narrative. Knowing the basic facts that Johnson compiled a dictionary and was active in London literary circles will make reading smoother.

How should I read the electronic edition?

Public-domain ebooks are easy to search and excerpt. Use reading software that supports dictionary lookup and annotation, advance chapter by chapter with bookmarks, and organize quotations of interest into notes.

Comments

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About the author

Bailey, John Cann, 1864-1931 Author · British · 1864–1931

John Cann Bailey (1864–1931) was a British classical scholar and literary critic. Public information about him is limited, and many details of his life are difficult to verify; what can be confirmed is that he devoted himself to literary research and critical writing, and two of his works are held in this collection. Among them, Dr. Johnson and His Circle concerns the eighteenth-century English literary figure Samuel Johnson and his associates, and is biographical and literary-historical in nature; Milton is a focused critical study of the seventeenth-century poet John Milton. Other sources mention a study of Whitman, indicating that his interests extended to both English and American literature. His writing tends to combine biography with analysis of works, is addressed to general readers, and is clear and plain in style, offering accessible introductory criticism for the study of English literature.