- 1. A PPT on Dr.Johnson & his Literary Club.Indranil
SarkarIndia.22/6/20131
2. The Club or The Literary Club was a London dining Club. It
was founded by Sir JoshuaReynolds and Dr. Samuel Johnson in
1764.Sir Joshua Reynolds was one of the most celebrated artists of
the time while Dr.Samuel Johnson is acclaimed as the most revered
English litterateur of all times.Initially it was founded with the
objective of dining together and discussion on literarymatters
while dining and drinking in the form of simple
gossips.6/2/20132i.s 3. Sir JoshuaReynolds RA FRS FRSA(16 July 1723
23 February1792)Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709[O.S . 7
September] 13 December1784).Link.www.wikipedia.org 6/2/20133 4. The
motto of the club was Esto perpetua(Latin "Let it be perpetual")
taken from thestate motto of Idaho. The words were uttered by the
Venetiantheologian and mathematician Paolo Sarpi(1552-1623), also
known as Fra Paolo.I.SLink. www.wikipedia.org 6/2/20134 5. The
Club:-Initially, the club would meet one evening per week at seven,
at the Turks Head Inn inGerrard Street, Soho. Later, meetings were
reduced to once per fortnight whilstParliament was in session, and
were held at rooms in St Jamess Street. Though theinitial
suggestion was Reynolds, it is Dr Johnson whose name is most
closely associatedwith the Club. John Timbs, in his Club Life in
London, gives an account of the Clubscentennial dinner in 1864,
which was celebrated at the Clarendon hotel.Henry Hart Milman, the
English historian, was the treasurer.The Literary Club or The
Club.6/2/20135 6. The Club or The Literary ClubMembers of the
Literary Club. 6/2/20136 7. Context :The Club was originally a
dining club. Initially, it was proposed that the clubwould meet one
evening per week at seven, at the Turks Head Inn in GerrardStreet,
Soho. Later, meetings were reduced to once per fortnight whilst
Parliament wasin session, and were held at rooms in St Jamess
Street. Though the initial suggestionwas Reynolds, it is Dr Johnson
whose name is most closely associated with the Club. JohnTimbs, in
his Club Life in London, gave an account of the Clubs centennial
dinner in1864(photograph of which is given in the earlier slide).It
was celebrated at the Clarendonhotel.Henry Hart Milman, the English
historian, was the treasurer.The Club or The Literary Club6/2/20137
8. Members: Originally the Club had nine members. They were all
celebratedpersonalities of London society. They were--Sir Joshua
Reynolds: artist; Dr.SamuelJohnson: essayist, lexicographer &
critic ; Edmund Burke: writer, later M.P.; Dr.Christopher Nugent;
Topham Beauclerk; Bennet Langton; Oliver Goldsmith:professor,
Anthony Chamier & John Hawkins: author.Membership was increased
to 12 in 1768. A membership of 12 was deemed optimalto retain a
qualitative excellence.Link: www.wikipedia.org 6/2/20138 9. The
Club or The Literary ClubDr. Johnson explained the qualification of
membership of the Club in thefollowing words: It was intended that
the Club should consist of such men, asthat if only Two of them
chanced to meet, they should be able to entertaineach other without
wanting the addition of more Company to pass the
Eveningagreeably.The Club is still existent and the membership had
increased more than 100.The Club denied membership to personalities
like Sir Winston Churchill andF.E.Smith for being too
political.6/2/20139 10. The Club or The Literary Club
SirJoshuaReynolds RA FRS FRSA(16 July 1723 3February 1792) was an
influential eighteenth-century English painter. He wasspecialized
in portrait painting. He promotedthe "Grand Style" in painting
which dependedon idealization of the imperfect. He was oneof the
founder-members of the Club. He wasthe first president of the Royal
Academy.King George III appreciated his merits andknighted him in
1769.It is said that heborrowed the idea of the Club from
France.Link: www.wikipedia.org6/2/201310 11. Dr. Samuel Johnson
Dr.Samuel Johnson18 September 1709(O.S. 7 September)--(13 December
1784)Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made
lastingcontributions to English literature as apoet, essayist,
moralist, literary critic, biographer,editor and lexicographer.
Johnson was adevout Anglican and committed Tory, and has
beendescribed as "arguably the most distinguished manof letters in
English History. He is also thesubject of "the most famous single
work ofbiographical art in the whole of literature":JamesBoswells
Life of Samuel Johnson. His Dictionaryof English Language is still
acclaimed.(An excerpt from the web page)Link:
www.wikipedia.org6/2/201311 12. 6/2/201312 Dr. Samuel Johnson was
the leading literary figure of the 18th century England. Heembodied
elegance, honesty, common sense as well as good manners which were
consideredas the typical virtues of the period. Even today he is
acclaimed as an icon of the Englishintelligence and mannerism. His
name is always uttered with reverence. Dr.Johnson wrote a few
sensible but uninspired poetrynamely The Vanity of Human Wishes
(1749) and London. His only novel, Rasselas (1759), was
equallysensible and equally dull.His masterpiece was A Dictionary
of the English Language (1755).His Lives of theEnglish poets was a
unique blending of biography and scholarly literary
criticism.Johnsons common sensewas shown in the clear definitions
of words. Link.www.kids.eb.com 13. 6/2/201313*Johnsons immortality
is not only for what he wrote but also forhis forceful personality
and his wonderful and wittyconversation.*All these have been
recorded by James Boswell in his The Life ofSamuel Johnson, LL.D.
(1791), the greatest of Englishbiographies.*Boswell had a keen eye
for significant detail and a properreverence for his subject.
Boswell noted all of Johnsonspeculiaritieshis rolling walk, his
twitching face, his horribletable manners, his rudeness to stupid
peoplebut he also sawhis subjects sturdy common sense and his
honesty. (See alsoBoswell, James; Johnson, Samuel.) 14. Edmund
Burke(12 January 17299July,1797) wasan Irish statesman, author,
orator, political theorist andphilosopher.He served for many years
in the House ofCommons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig
party. He is mainly remembered for his support of the cause ofthe
American Revolutionaries, and for his later oppositionto the French
Revolution. Burke was praised by both conservatives and liberals
inthe 19th century. Since the 20th century, he has generally been
viewed asthe philosophical founder of modern conservatism as wellas
a representative of classical liberalism.Link:
www.wikipedia.orgEdmund Burke(1729-1797)www.wikipedia.org
6/2/201314 15. Hestor Piozzi (27 January 1741 [NS] 2 May1821) was a
diarist, author, historian and patronof the arts. Her affairs with
Dr. Johnson became a hotdebate . Her first published works were two
poems onFanny Burney. Her Anecdotes of the lateSamuel Johnson
(1786) and her letters (1788)were published after her death. As an
inheritor of prestigious Salusburyfamily, she reflected her
literarydistinctiveness in all her writings.Hester Lynch Thrale by
Sir Joshua ReynoldsLink.www.wikipedia.org6/2/201315 16. The
Club6/2/201316 According to the Oxford Dictionary ofNational
Biography, her Retrospection: or areview of the most striking and
importantevents, characters, situations, and theirconsequences
which the last eighteenhundred years have presented to the view
ofmankind is a feminist history of the time.Her diaries and
Anecdotes of the late SamuelJohnson (1786) and her letters
(1788)published after the death of Dr.Johnsonprovided an insight of
Dr. Johnsonspersonality overlooked by Boswell. 17. David Garrick
(19 February 1717 20 January 1779) was anEnglish actor, playwright,
theatre manager and producer.He influenced nearly all aspects of
theatrical practicethroughout the 18th century.He was a pupil and
friend of Dr Samuel Johnson.At his death, he was given a lavish
public funeralat Westminster Abbey.He was laid to rest in the Poets
Corner.Link: www.wikipedia.org 6/2/201317 18. James Boswell, 9th
Laird of Auchinleck (October29, 1740 - May 19, 1795) was a lawyer,
diarist, and authorborn in Edinburgh, Scotland. Boswell is best
known for hismassive biography of Samuel Johnson. Although Boswell
was not the first biographer in theEnglish language, he is almost
certainly the first modernbiographer. His Life of Samuel Johnson is
itself a literarymasterwork [An excerpt from the web page of New
World Encyclopedia] Link.
www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/James_Boswell James Boswell,9th
Laird of
Auchinlewww.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/James_Bosw6/2/201318 19.
In the history of literature sometimes asingle book by an author
has made himunforgettable forever. Boswells biographyof Dr.Johnson
is one such case. It is stilldebatable whether he did a great
serviceto Dr.Johnson by writing his biography orDr.Johnson offered
a blessing ofimmortality to Boswell by permitting himto write his
biography.Link: www.wikipedia.org 6/2/201319 20. Charles James Fox
PC (24 January 1749 13September 1806), styled TheHonourable from
1762, was a prominentBritish Whig statesman whose
parliamentarycareer spanned thirty-eight years of thelate 18th and
early 19th centuries and whowas particularly noted for being the
arch-rival of William Pitt the Younger.The Right HonourableCharles
James FoxLink: www.wikipedia.org 6/2/201320 21. Edward Gibbon
(April 27, 1737 January 16, 1794) was anEnglish historian and
Member of Parliament. Gibbon is oftenreferred to as the first
"modern" historian.His most important work, The History of the
Decline and Fall ofthe Roman Empire was published in six volumes
between 1776and 1788.The History is known principally for the
quality and irony of itsprose, its use of primary sources, and its
open criticism oforganized religion. It covered the period of the
RomanEmpire after Marcus Aurelius, from just before 180 to 1453and
beyond, concluding in 1590, and attempted to explain whythe Roman
Empire fell.[ An excerpt from New World
Encyclopedia]www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Edward_Gibbon6/2/201321
22. Sir William Scott served as judge of the High Court for
thirtyyears.This long legal service provided the basis of his
reputation asthe greatest of civilian (as opposed to common)
lawyers.His term of office coincided with the Revolutionary
andNapoleonic wars.Scott had developed many aspects of the
international law ofwar, especially the law of neutral and
belligerent rights at sea.He also influenced the development of
admiralty law.He was an influential member of the Literary Club of
Dr.Johnson.Judge of the High Court ofAdmiralty,
1798-1828www.books.google.es/books/about/Sir_William_Scott6/2/201322
23. Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1730 4 April 1774) was an
Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright and poet. He is best known for his
novelThe Vicarof Wakefield (1766), his pastoralpoem The Deserted
Village (1770), andhis plays The Good-Naturd Man (1768)and She
Stoops to Conquer (1771). She Stoops to Conquer was firstperformed
in 1773. He also wrote An History of the Earthand Animated Nature.
He is thought to have writtenthe classic childrens tale The History
ofLittle Goody Two-Shoes, the source ofthe phrase "goody
two-shoes". He was an oiginal member ofDr.Johnsons Literary Club.
6/2/201323 24. Topham Beauclerk (pronounced bo-CLAIR) (22 December
1739 11 March 1780) was acelebrated wit and a friend of Dr
Johnsonand Horace Walpole, Lord Oxford. TophamBeauclerk entertained
Dr Johnson at hishome in Old Windsor for a number of weeks.He
appears several times in Boswells Life ofJohnson. Topham
Beauclerk:6/2/201324 www.wikipedia.org 25. Dr. Johnsons Statue at
the Market Square of Lichfield. Photo by Villafanuk.(This photo has
been released into the public domain by the author.)Link.www//.
http://www.ourenglish.org/pangbingjun.html6/2/201325
