- Dunedin Public Libraries

‘Samuel Johnson, 1709–2009: Life & Afterlife’

The latest exhibition of the Dunedin Public Libraries commemorates the birth of critic, poet, lexicographer, and larger-than-life literary personality Dr Samuel Johnson (1709–1784).

The exhibition celebrates not only his achievements, but also his continued legacy that has lasted for centuries. Johnson, unlike a number of his contemporaries, is not just another dead writer. Three hundred years after his birth in Lichfield, England, on 18 September 1709, Johnson continues to exert a strong pull upon the mind and imagination of people such as founder of Reed Publishing and national folk icon, A. H. Reed (1875–1975).

Reed would not have been able to become a collector of Johnsoniana without the activity of thousands of other writers, editors and readers who keep Johnson’s name alive. Thus, it is 300 years of a literary life and afterlife that this exhibition celebrates.

The Dunedin Public currently holds what is the largest concentrated collection of Johnsoniana in an institutional or public library in Australasia, thanks to donations made by Reed and subsequent purchases by the Library.

Among the eighteenth-century items drawn from the collection for display are first editions of Johnson’s ground-breaking Dictionary of the English Language (1755), his ‘Oriental Tale’ Rasselas (1759), and his annotated edition of The Plays of William Shakespeare (1765).

Also on exhibit are four original letters by members of the Johnson Circle, including his noted biographer James Boswell (1740–1795), anecdotist William Seward writing to diarist and authoress Hester Thrale (1741–1821), and a letter by the music historian Charles Burney (1726–1814) to his daughter – famed authoress Frances ‘Fanny’ Burney (1752–1840).

Despite the status and ubiquity of Boswell’s great biography of Johnson (first published in 1791), there has been a continual stream of writers attracted to re-interpreting Johnson’s life to contemporary audiences. There have been almost two dozen new biographies of Johnson published in the last 100 years, and five of the twentieth century’s best are on exhibit.

Of the fifty-four items on display, twenty-seven date to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries rather than the eighteenth, ranging from popoular literature to critical editions.

This exhibition is part of wider Johnsonian events taking place around the world.

Curated by:

Anthony Tedeschi

Paul Tankard

The Reed Gallery exhibition runs through to 1 November 2009 and is free and open to the public.

Fast Facts

‘Samuel Johnson, 1709–2009: Life & Afterlife’
On until 1st November 2009
Monday - Friday 9.30am - 8.00pm
Saturday & Sunday 11.00am - 4.00pm
Reed Gallery, Floor 3
Dunedin City Library
Free

Web Resources

In this clip Paul Tankard, Senior Lecturer in English - University of Otago talks about the exhibition.

The second part of Paul's speech can be found on Dunedin Public Libraries YouTube channel.

www.youtube.com/dunedinlibraries