Johnsoniana

This folio of inlaid manuscripts was compiled during the 1930s by an unknown collector. Almost all of the items relate at least tangentially to Samuel Johnson. The collection includes a group of seven slips of paper, pages (2-7), bearing what appear to be original unpublished anecdotes regarding Samuel Johnson, all in the same hand. Some are on the verso of postal covers addressed to antiquary Richard Gough (1735-1809). Gough may have received these anecdotes from some intimate of Johnson, or recorded them himself on scrap paper he found at hand. No publication by Hough on Johnson is known, and the handwriting does not appear to match Gough's. See the William Upcott Papers, MS Eng 1178, page (97a) for a sample by Gough's hand.

Also of note are two watercolor paintings depicting Johnson at the Thrale home at Streatham Park, pages (1) and (37). These are unsigned, but the 1938 Apr. 12 Sotheby's catalog credits them to Clarkson Stanfield as illustrations for an 1836 work by John Murray (not at Harvard). Much of the remainder of the collection consists of letters which mention Johnson in passing, refer to his biographies, or quote his published works. The items on pages (8), (18), (19), (21), and (23) came from the papers of publisher John Nichols, and items (12-17) and (22) are letters to or from Charles Burney. One letter is addressed to Hester Thrale (later Hester Lynch Piozzi), page (17); she is also apparently depicted in the paintings.