3 OF 14

'The biographers' (Hester Lynch Piozzi (née Salusbury; Mrs Thrale); John Courtenay; James Boswell; Samuel Johnson (bust))

3 of 14 portraits of Hester Lynch Piozzi (née Salusbury; Mrs Thrale)

by James Sayers, published by Thomas Cornell
etching, published June 1786
10 3/4 in. x 7 5/8 in. (273 mm x 194 mm) plate size; 11 5/8 in. x 8 3/8 in. (295 mm x 214 mm) paper size
Purchased, 1905
Reference Collection
NPG D12243

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Sittersback to top

James Boswell (1740-1795), Biographer of Dr Johnson. Sitter associated with 16 portraits.
John Courtenay (1738-1816), Politician. Sitter associated with 14 portraits.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), Poet, critic and lexicographer. Sitter associated with 50 portraits.
Hester Lynch Piozzi (née Salusbury; Mrs Thrale) (1741-1821), Writer and friend of Dr Johnson. Sitter in 14 portraits.

Artistsback to top

Thomas Cornell (active 1780-1792). Artist associated with 59 portraits.
James Sayers (1748-1823), Artist. Artist associated with 188 portraits, Sitter in 1 portrait.

This portraitback to top

In this print a bust of Johnson looks down on the three biographers with displeasure. The inscription makes reference to Piozzi's Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson (1786), Boswell's Journal of aTour to the Hebrides (1785), in which Johnson is compared to a bear, and Courtenay's Politic Review of the Literary … Character of the late S. Johnson (1786).