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Samuel Johnson

(1709-1784), Poet, critic and lexicographer

Mid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue Entry

Sitter associated with 51 portraits
The author of the prodigious Dictionary of the English Language (1755), Johnson gained further prestige through the publication of his new edition of Shakespeare (1765) and travel memoir A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland (1775). Ungainly and plagued with nervous tics, he was the victim of melancholia and could not bear solitude. Johnson had an immense circle of friends, and was one of the greatest conversationalists of all time. Reynolds founded the Literary Club with him in 1764 to 'give him unlimited opportunities for talking'. James Boswell's Life, along with other biographies documented his behaviour and mannerisms in such detail that they have informed the posthumous diagnosis of Tourette syndrome.

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Samuel Johnson, by George Zobel, published by  Paul and Dominic Colnaghi & Co, published by  Robert Roe, possibly after  Sir Joshua Reynolds - NPG D36538

Samuel Johnson

by George Zobel, published by Paul and Dominic Colnaghi & Co, published by Robert Roe, possibly after Sir Joshua Reynolds
mezzotint, published 2 January 1854
NPG D36538

Samuel Johnson, by Samuel Haydon, after  Ozias Humphry, after  Sir Joshua Reynolds - NPG D3158

Samuel Johnson

by Samuel Haydon, after Ozias Humphry, after Sir Joshua Reynolds
etching, circa 1860 (1769)
NPG D3158

John Bacon the Elder; Samuel Johnson (on reverse), by Joseph Shepherd Wyon, and after  John Bacon the Elder - NPG D2907

John Bacon the Elder; Samuel Johnson (on reverse)

by Joseph Shepherd Wyon, and after John Bacon the Elder
bronze medal, 1864
NPG D2907

'Dr Johnson awaiting an audience of Lord Chesterfield' (Samuel Johnson and 14 unknown figures), by Lumb Stocks, published by  Art Union of London, after  Edward Matthew Ward - NPG D36541

'Dr Johnson awaiting an audience of Lord Chesterfield' (Samuel Johnson and 14 unknown figures)

by Lumb Stocks, published by Art Union of London, after Edward Matthew Ward
engraving, published 1876
NPG D36541

Web image not currently available

Samuel Johnson

by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, 1st Bt
clay bust, 1881
NPG 621a

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Samuel Johnson

by William Doughty, after Sir Joshua Reynolds
mezzotint, published 1779 (1772-1778)
NPG D19511

Web image not currently available

Samuel Johnson

by Davenport, after John Opie
line engraving, (circa 1800)
NPG D20411

Web image not currently available

Samuel Johnson

by William Holl Sr, published by Longman & Co, after Sir Joshua Reynolds
stipple engraving, published 1814
NPG D19318

Web image not currently available

'A literary party at Sir Joshua Reynolds's'

by D. George Thompson, published by William Walker, and Owen Bailey, after James William Edmund Doyle
stipple and line engraving, published 1 July 1848
NPG D49811

Web image not currently available

Samuel Johnson

by William Chambers Lefroy
pencil, 26 January 1883
NPG D36540

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