Record Number: 21164

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'On Saturday, April 3, the day after my arrival in London this year, I went to his house late in the evening, and sat with Mrs. Williams till he came home. I found in the "London Chronicle" Dr. Goldsmith's apology to the publick for beating Evans, a bookseller, on account of a paragraph 5 in a newspaper published by him, which Goldsmith thought impertinent to him and to a lady of his acquaintance. The apology was written so much in Dr. Johnson's manner that both Mrs. Williams and I supposed it to be his; but when he came home, he soon undeceived us. When he said to Mrs. Williams, "Well, Dr. Goldsmith's manifesto has got into your paper;" I asked him if Dr. Goldsmith had written it, with an air that made him see I suspected it was his, though subscribed by Goldsmith. Johnson. "Sir, Dr. Goldsmith would no more have asked me to write such a thing as that for him than he would have asked me to feed him with a spoon, or to do any thing else that denoted his imbecility. I as much believe that he wrote it as if I had seen him do it".'

Century:

1700-1799

Date:

3 Apr 1773

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: London
specific address: Johnson's house
location in dwelling

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Mrs Williams

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

n/a

Socio-Economic Group:

Unknown/NA

Occupation:

n/a

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

Johnson's lodger

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Text Being Read:

Author:

[n/a]

Title:

London Chronicle

Genre:

Ephemera

Form of Text:

Print: Newspaper

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

read in situ
read at Johnson's house

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Source Information:

Record ID:

21164

Source:

Print

Author:

James Boswell

Editor:

R.W. Chapman

Title:

Life of Johnson

Place of Publication:

Oxford

Date of Publication:

1980

Vol:

n/a

Page:

507

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

James Boswell, R.W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson, (Oxford, 1980), p. 507, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=21164, accessed: 26 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

Originally published 1791.