Notes on Samuel Johnson:（18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), has long been known as one of the great wits and wordsmiths of the English language: poet, critic, biographer, journalist, editor, novelist, bon vivant, and, of course, author of his pioneering dictionary.
Born in Lichfield, his father was a book seller and they never short of books in their house. Poor health as a child, Samuel suffered from scrofula and the treatment left him scarred all over his body. However he was a vicious reader and showed early sign of intelligence as a young child. At age 4, his mom gave him a prayer book asked him to learn it. He could recite the book the second day...
Studied at Oxford. However he has to leave after a year without degree due to lack of funding. After Oxford, his father was very ill and soon to die. He asked Samuel to help his family business, but Samuel turned his back on his father, refused to be the book seller and follow his father's step...
One of Samuel’s close friends was Harry porter. After Mr. Porter died, Samuel began to court his wife. He married the widow who was 20 years older than him, almost a mother figure, but their relationship was well beyond love. His wife's also use her money helping him setup a school, but it failed.
In his late 20s, he went to London to pursue his literature ambition. With his physical handicaps in many ways, people often thought he was a lunatic at first, but only to find his incredible talents after knowing him.
His dictionary is very different from the past, not only it gives definitions of the word but also sample sentences where they were used with references from vast fields. All these were done from his extraordinary memories. His book was the search engine of the 18th century.
At age 51, he was largely recognized and regarded as the king of literature in London. For the next 25 years, he lived comfortably and had also used his wealth to help others, especially those young people who had similar experience as he did, but with great gifts and talents.
Today people remember him largely due to his contributions to the literature world. Yet in real life, this was a man filled with suffering and misery, from poverty to illness, from depression to lost of love ones. Work seems to be his only savior, and his love for literature has sustained his entire life. His extraordinary gifts eventually find his place in the creation of the dictionary. 300 years after his death, his standard of his dictionary stands and still highly respected.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpVP8ezoVlM. (BBC: Samuel Johnson, the dictionary man)
英文散文精读课#4: 论莎翁， by Samuel Johnson。 “困于粥来饭去之常，乃幕海客瀛洲之想。 舞榭歌台，见莎翁戏文，跌宕错落，波诡云谲， 自生激赏。寂寥阑珊处，忽感人世悲欣，如镜花水月，云烟过眼， 唯大道人心，亘古恒长。 ～讲师齐文昱”
