The Life of Samuel Johnson

On Good Friday 1778, Johnson runs into an old classmate, Mr. Edwards, whom he has not seen since college, even though both men have lived in London all this time. They go to Johnson’s home with Boswell and the two old men share poignant reminiscences and observations about old age. Whereas Johnson has become a famous man of letters, Edwards has been a simple lawyer; yet neither man has become rich.

In April, Boswell attempts to form a list of Johnson’s works—a sign that he is tasking himself with Johnson’s literary legacy. The task is made difficult by the fact that Johnson has written so much and is reluctant about keeping and exact record of which pieces were written by him.

At a gathering on April 28 with Johnson, Reynolds, Boswell, and others, Johnson defends his practice of not drinking wine as leading to moderation and a clear mind; he presents himself as evidence, since he has been a “water drinker” for a number of years.

During a similar gathering on April 29, there is a significant aside between Boswell and the historian Dr. Robertson. When Boswell praises Johnson as “so much superiour to other men” that he is worthy to be “worshipped,” Robertson presents a more balanced and realistic portrait of Johnson: “In criticism, and in wit and conversation, he is no doubt very excellent; but in other respects, he is not above other men” (978).