Samuel Johnson Biography

898 Words2 Pages

Samuel Johnson was born in Linchfield, London on september 18, 1709. He was born to Michael Johnson and Sarah Ford. His dad was a well-read and respected businessman (“Samuel Johnson”). Johnson was not a healthy baby, and there were considerable questions as to whether he would survive (“Samuel Johnson: A Brief Biography”). When he was born, he was diagnosed with a disease called scrofula. Scrofula is a disease with glandular swelling, and is a form of tuberculosis. Johnson will be scarred across his face and body for the rest of his life. Since he was a victim of this disease, he was blind in one eye, and could not hear. When Samuel was young and suffering from this disease, his mother Sarah believed that the royal touch had healing powers, so she took her son to London to be touched by Queen Anne (“Samuel Johnson”).
At the age of three, Johnson began his education. His mother was his teacher until they decided to send him to school. He went ended up going to Linchfield Grammer School. He went there for many years, and ended up learning latin language. Many people were shocked at how well he excelled at learning the language at such a young age. At this point in his life he was trying to find things that he liked to do. He liked to take long walks, read his fathers books, swimming, and riding horses. All of those things helped him when he was having a bad day, or in a gloomy mood. Many years went on and he continued to go to a few different schools that were good for him. At the age of 19 he studied languages and law at Pembroke College at Oxford (“Samuel Johnson”). He ended up leaving Oxford because they did not have the money to afford it. So he never got the chance to get his degree there.
Johnson could be an impatient man...

... middle of paper ...

...ght it would have.
Once he finally wanted to get back into the writing world, he became a regular employee for Edward Cave on the Gentleman’s Magazine (“The life of Samuel Johnson 1709-1784”). He was responsible for the “Reports of the Senate of Lilliput” section in the magazine (“The life of Samuel Johnson 1709-1784”). Someone would bring him notes so he could base his article off of something rather then trying to make it all up himself. If he did not understand then he had to combine all the information he got, and had to summarize what was said. In 1762, Johnson was awarded a government pension, and a year later he a young Scottish lawyer named James Boswell (“BBC News”). Boswell helped Johnson’s fame a lot. He published a book called “Life of Johnson”. They both went on a three-month tour in Scotland. They toured the highlands and the hebrides (“BBC News”).

Open Document