translated a Voyage to Abyssinia, written by Jerome Lobo, a Portugueze missionary. This was the first literary work from the pen of Dr. Johnson. His friend Hector was occasionally his amanuensis. The work was, probably, undertaken at the desire of Warren, the bookseller, and was printed at Birmingham ; but it appears in the Literary Magazine, or History of the Works of the Learned, for March, 1735, that it was published by Bettes- worth and Hitch, Pate r-noster- row *. . .
Having finished this work, Johnson returned in February, 1734, to his native city, and, in the month of August following, published Proposals for printing by subscription, the Latin Poems of Politian, with the History of Latin Poetry, from the ^Era of Petrarch to the time of Politian ; and also the Life of Politian, to be added by the Editor, Samuel Johnson 2 . The book to be printed in thirty octavo sheets price five shillings. It is to be regretted that this project failed for want of encourage ment. Johnson, it seems, differed from Boileau, Voltaire, and D'Alembert, who have taken upon them to proscribe all modern efforts to write with elegance in a dead language 3 . For a decision, pronounced in so high a tone, no good reason can be assigned. The interests of learning require, that the diction of
1 Life, i. 87. scholar of the present age would
Major (afterwards Sir Francis) dream of writing the history of this
Head accused Johnson of having late period of Latin poetry ? translated Lobo to injure the sale of 3 Johnson in his last work shows
Bruce's Travels. Gentleman's Maga- his fondness for modern Latin poetry.
sine, 1830, ii. 482. These Travels He says :' Pope had sought for
were published six years after John- images and sentiments in a region
son's death. not known to have been explored by
1 omit ten pages containing an many other of the English writers ; extract from the preface given in he had consulted the modern writers the Life, i. 88, and an abstract of the of Latin poetry, a class of authors book. whom Boileau endeavoured to bring
2 ' Angeli Politiani Poemata Lati- into contempt, and who are too na,quibus,NotascumhistoridLatin(E generally neglected.' Works, viii. poeseos, d Petrarchce <zvo ad Poli- 299.
Hani tempora deditctd, et vitd Poli- Boileau ridicules them in a Frag-
tiani fusius qitam antehac enarratd, nient de Dialogue, where the Inter- addidit SAM. JOHNSON.' Life, i. 90. locideurs are 'Apollon, Horace, des Petrarch was born in 1304; Poli- Muses, des Poetes.' CEuvres, ed. tian died in 1494. What young 1747, iii. 55.
Greece
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