out out the finer qualities of his model. His love of talk diminished his mannerism in later years; and, at his worst, his phrases are not mere verbiage, but an awkward embodiment of very keen dialectical power. The strong sense, shrewd and humorous observations which appear in his ‘Lives of the Poets’ give him the very first rank among all the talkers of whom we have any adequate report. Carlyle calls him the last of the tories. He was the typical embodiment of the strength and weakness, the common sense masked by grotesque prejudice, and the genuine sentiment underlying a rough outside, which characterise the ‘true-born Englishman of the eighteenth century.’ He was the first author who, living by his pen alone, preserved absolute independence of character, and was as much respected for his high morality as for his intellectual power.
A full list of Johnson's works, drawn up by Boswell, is in Hill's ‘Boswell,’ i. 16–24. The works, published separately, are: 1. Abridgment and translation of Lobo's ‘Voyage to Abyssinia,’ 1735. 2. ‘London,’ 1738. 3. ‘Marmor Norfolciense; or an Essay on an Ancient Prophetical Inscription in Monkish Rhyme, lately discovered near Lynne in Norfolk by Probus Britannicus,’ 1739 (also in Gent. Mag.) 4. ‘Proposals for Publishing “Bibliotheca Harleiana,” a Catalogue of the Library of the Earl of Oxford’ (also in Gent. Mag., and prefixed to first volume of Catalogue), 1742. 5. ‘Life of Richard Savage,’ 1744. 6. ‘Miscellaneous Observations on the Tragedy of Macbeth, with Remarks on Sir T[homas] H[armer's] Edition of Shakespeare, and Proposals for a New Edition of that Poet,’ 1745. 7. ‘Plan for a Dictionary of the English Language, addressed to Philip Dormer, Earl of Chesterfield,’ 1747. 8. ‘The Vanity of Human Wishes, being the Tenth Satire of Juvenal Imitated,’ 1749. 9. ‘Irene,’ 1749; 2nd edit. 1754. 10. The ‘Rambler,’ 1750–2 (see above). 11. Papers in the ‘Adventurer,’ 1753 (see above). 12. ‘A Dictionary, with a Grammar and History of the English Language,’ 1755. Five editions appeared during his lifetime; the eleventh in 1816. A verbatim reprint of the author's last edition was published by Bohn in 1854. An abridgment by Johnson appeared in 1756 and was several times reprinted. Supplements, abridgments, and editions by other authors have also appeared. 13. ‘Account of an Attempt to ascertain the Longitude at Sea …’ (for Z. Williams), 1755 (see above). 14. ‘Life of Sir Thomas Browne,’ prefixed to new edition of ‘Christian Morals,’ 1756. 15. ‘The Idler,’ 1758–1760 (see above). 16. ‘Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia,’ 1759; a facsimile of the first edition, with a bibliography by James Macaulay, was published in 1884. 17. ‘Life of Ascham,’ prefixed to ‘Ascham's English Works,’ by Bennet, 1763. 18. ‘Plays of William Shakespeare, with Notes,’ 8 vols. 1765. 19. ‘The False Alarm,’ 1770. 20. ‘Thoughts on the late Transactions respecting Falkland Islands,’ 1771. 21. ‘The Patriot,’ 1774. 22. ‘A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland,’ 1775. 23. ‘Taxation no Tyranny,’ 1775. 24. ‘Prefaces Biographical and Critical to the Works of the most Eminent English Poets,’ 1779 and 1781. Published separately as ‘Lives of the English Poets’ in many editions. The edition by Peter Cunningham appeared in 1854; and one by Mrs. Napier in 1890. An edition of the six chief lives, with preface by Matthew Arnold, appeared in 1878.
Johnson's ‘Prayers and Meditations,’ edited by G. Strahan, appeared in 1785; and his ‘Letters’ to Madame Piozzi in 1788. ‘Sermons left for Publication,’ by John Taylor, which appeared in 1788 and passed through several editions, have also been attributed to him. ‘An Account of the Life of Dr. Samuel Johnson from his Birth to his Eleventh Year, written by Himself’ (1805), was a fragment saved from some papers burnt by him before his death, and not seen by Boswell. Johnson also contributed many articles to the ‘Gentleman's Magazine’ from 1738 to 1748; some to the ‘Universal Visitor’ in 1756; and some to the ‘Literary Magazine’ of the same year. He wrote many prefaces, dedications, and other trifles for his friends.
His collected works were edited by Hawkins in 1787 in 11 vols., to which two, edited by Stockdale, were added. Murphy edited them in 11 vols. in 1796. The Oxford edition of 1825 was edited by Francis Pearson Walesby, fellow of Lincoln College, and professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford. This contains the works in 9 vols., and the ‘Parliamentary Debates’ (also published separately, 2 vols. 1787) in 2 vols.
