Thou art a Retailer of Phrases; And dost deal in Remnants of Remnants, Like a maker of Pincushions. (Samuel Johnson; James Boswell)
1 portrait of Samuel Johnson
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Thou art a Retailer of Phrases; And dost deal in Remnants of Remnants, Like a maker of Pincushions. (Samuel Johnson; James Boswell)
by Unknown artist
stipple engraving, published 1803
10 5/8 in. x 8 1/4 in. (271 mm x 208 mm) paper size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D34872
Sittersback to top
- James Boswell (1740-1795), Biographer of Dr Johnson. Sitter associated with 17 portraits.
- Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), Poet, critic and lexicographer. Sitter associated with 51 portraits.
This portraitback to top
This image was first published in 1803 in The Works of satirical poet Richard Owen Cambridge (1717-1802) who may have conceived of the design.
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- The Life and Lives of Dr Johnson (18 July 2009 - 14 December 2009)
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1803back to top
Current affairs
The Vice Society is formally established by John Reeves and his associates to campaign against blasphemy and immorality, particularly that perpetrated by Thomas Paine and the Edinburgh Review.Art and science
Erasmus Darwin's Temple of Nature published posthumously. A scientific treaty in the form of an elaborate couplet poem, its content anticipated some of the evolutionary ideas developed by his grandson, Charles Darwin, fifty years later.Construction of the Caledonian Canal begins.
International
War with France resumes, sparking new fears of a cross-channel invasion.United Irishman, Robert Emmett's attempted uprising in Dublin. Planned to coincide with Napoleon's expected invasion, it aimed to overthrow the English administration but ended in failure. Emmett is hanged along with several other conspirators.
Comments back to top
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Nandan
11 March 2016, 10:57
The text is from William Congreve's "The Way of the World" published in 1700, Act IV, Scene IX