Record Number: 22171
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'[Croft's 'Life of Young, adapted by Johnson for his 'Life'] has always appeared to me to have a considerable share of merit, and to display a pretty successful imitation of Johnson's style. When I mentioned this to a very eminent literary character [Edmund Burke], he opposed me vehemently, exclaiming, "No, no, it is not a good imitation of Johnson; it has all his pomp without his force; it has all the nodosities of the oak without its strength". This was an image so happy, that one might have thought he would have been satisfied with it; but he was not. And setting his mind again to work, he added, with exquisite felicity, "It has all the contortions of the Sybil, without the inspiration".'
Century:1700-1799
Date:Until: 31 Dec 1781
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:n/a
Type of Experience(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:12 Jan 1729
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:politician and writer
Religion:n/a
Country of Origin:Ireland
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Life of Young
Genre:Essays / Criticism, Biography
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsadapted for Johnson's 'Lives of the Poets'
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:22171
Source:James Boswell
Editor:R.W. Chapman
Title:Life of Johnson
Place of Publication:Oxford
Date of Publication:1980
Vol:n/a
Page:1110
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
James Boswell, R.W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson, (Oxford, 1980), p. 1110, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=22171, accessed: 22 November 2024
Additional Comments:
Originally published 1791.
