Samuel Johnson. Samuel Johnson, often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor, and lexicographer.
He was a devout Anglican. Politically, he was a committed Tory.
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes Johnson as arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history. He is the subject of James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson, described by Walter Jackson Bate as the most famous single work of biographical art in the whole of literature.
Born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, Johnson attended Pembroke College, Oxford, for just over a year, but a lack of funds forced him to leave. After working as a teacher, he moved to London, where he began to write for The Gentleman's Magazine.
His early works include the biography Life of Mr Richard Savage, the poems London and The Vanity of Human Wishes, and the play Irene. After nine years of work, Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1755. It had a far-reaching effect on Modern English and has been acclaimed as one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship. This work brought Johnson popularity and success. Until the completion of the Oxford English Dictionary 150 years later, Johnson's was the pre-eminent British dictionary. His later works included essays