Selected Essays

by Samuel Johnson, David Womersley (Editor), David Womersley (Introduction), David Womersley (Noted by)

Overview

This volume contains a generous selection from the essays Johnson published twice weekly as "The Rambler" in the early 1750s. It was here that he first created the literary character and forged the distinctive prose style that established him as a public figure. Also included here is the best of Johnson's later journalism, including essays from the periodicals "The Adventurer" and "The Idler."

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780140436273
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/15/2003
Series:	Penguin Classics Series
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	576
Sales rank:	359,871
Product dimensions:	5.12(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.13(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Samuel Johnson (1709-84) was an English poet, novelist, critic, lexicographer, biographer, and editor. But it was his essays that made him a dominant figure in 18th century English literary life.

David Womersley is a lecturer in English at Jesus College, Oxford. He edited the authoritative three-volume edition of Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, as well as the one-volume abridged edition, for Penguin Classics.

Table of Contents

Selected EssaysChronology
Introduction
Further Reading
A Note on the Texts
The Rambler (1750-52)
1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 36, 37, 39, 41, 45, 47, 49, 60, 63, 64, 70, 71, 72, 73, 76, 77, 79, 85, 87, 90, 93, 101, 106, 108, 113, 114, 115, 121, 129, 134, 135, 137, 142, 145, 146, 148, 151, 156, 158, 159, 161, 165, 167, 168, 170, 171, 176, 181, 183, 184, 188, 191, 196, 207, 208.

The Adventurer (1753-54)
39, 45, 50, 67, 69, 84, 85, 95, 99, 102, 107, 111, 119, 126, 137, 138.

The Idler (1758-60)
1, 5, 10, 17, [22], 22, 23, 27, 30, 31, 32, 36, 38, 40, 41, 44, 48, 49, 50, 51, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 65, 66, 72, 81, 84, 88, 94, 100, 103.

Miscellaneous Essays
"A Compleat Vindication of the Licensers of the Stage" (1739)
"An Essay on Epitaphs" (1740)
"Introduction" to the Harleian Miscellany (1744)
"Observations on the present State of Affairs" (1756)
"Of the Duty of a Journalist" (1758)
"The Bravery of the English Common Soldiers" (1760)

Appendix I: Johnson's prayer on beginning The Rambler
Appendix II: Parallel texts of the original and revised states of The Rambler No. 1
Appendix III: Bonnell Thornton's parody of The Rambler
Notes