Record Number: 21032
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'He allowed high praise to Thomson, as a poet; but when one of the company said he was also a very good man, our moralist contested this with very great warmth, accusing him of gross sensuality and licentiousness of manners. I was very much afraid that in writing Thomson's "Life", Dr. Johnson would have treated his private character with a stern severity, but I was agreeably disappointed; and I may claim a little merit in it, from my having been at pains to send him authentic accounts of the affectionate and generous conduct of that poet to his sisters, one of whom, the wife of Mr. Thomson, schoolmaster, of Lanark, I knew, and was presented by her with three of his letters, one of which Dr. Johnson has inserted in his "Life".'
Century:1700-1799
Date:Until: 31 Dec 1781
Country:n/a
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:29 Oct 1740
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:writer and lawyer
Religion:n/a
Country of Origin:Scotland
Country of Experience:n/a
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:[letters to his sister and accounts by them of his character]
Genre:letters
Form of Text:Manuscript: Letter
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceowned
Source Information:
Record ID:21032
Source:James Boswell
Editor:R.W. Chapman
Title:Life of Johnson
Place of Publication:Oxford
Date of Publication:1980
Vol:n/a
Page:398
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
James Boswell, R.W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson (Oxford, 1980), p. 398, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=21032, accessed: 03 October 2023
Additional Comments:
Originally published 1791.
