Dr Johnson's House

09/11/2019

Join us for a conversation between the artists featured in our upcoming exhibition, London’s Theatre of the East, organised in collaboration with Dr Johnson’s House.

Novelist Saeida Rouass, documentary photographer Lena Naassana and textile designer Nour Hage will join Professor Jerry Brotton, author of This Orient Isle, and the Donald Hyde Curator of Dr Johnson’s House for a discussion on how each artist approached and responded to the theme of the historical connections of the Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East and North Africa with London, via the lens of Dr Johnson’s 1749 play, Irene, set during the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

Tickets for this event and the others we've got planned are available here: http://www.drjohnsonshouse.org/events.html

09/11/2019

Our new exhibition, London's Theatre of the East, is open now! The project - organised in collaboration with
@ArabBritishCent - (re)examines the historical connections of the Middle East and North Africa and London - click here to find out more: http://www.drjohnsonshouse.org/exhibitions.html

25/10/2019

Our first edition of Johnson's only play, Irene, is fresh back from conservation, just in time for our next exhibition, London's Theatre of the East.

Organised in collaboration with the Arab British Centre, our neighbours in Gough Square, this exhibition invites artists, researchers and the public to (re)examine the historical connections of the Middle East and North Africa and London, via the lens of Dr Johnson’s 1749 play, Irene, set during the fall of Constantinople.

It opens on Friday 8th November and you can read more about it here: http://www.drjohnsonshouse.org/exhibitions.html

18/09/2019

On this day in 1709, Samuel Johnson was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire. Famous for his ability to capture the human condition, 310 years later we can still relate to many of his works and quotes whilst navigating a very different life and world.

18/09/2019

Word of the day: LI'PWISDOM. n.s. [lip and wisdom.] Wisdom in talk without practice.

17/09/2019

Word of the day: To GRU'BBLE. v.n. [grubelen, German, from grub.] To feel in the dark.

16/09/2019

Word of the day: SUBDITI'TIOUS. adj [subdititius, Latin.] Put secretly in the place of something else.

14/09/2019

Word of the day: HUSH. interj. [Without etymology.] Silence! be still! no noise!

24/08/2019

A summer outing to Stratford-Upon-Avon

Find out what our Reading Circle got up to on their summer trip to Stratford-upon-Avon: http://bit.ly/2P9Os00

By Adam Stevenson Daring to leave the cosy safety of Dr Johnson’s House, the Reading Circle travelled to Stratford-Upon-Avon to visit one of the oldest historic house museums of them all, Shakespea…

23/08/2019

Word of the day: To CONFA'BULATE. v.n. [confabulo, Lat] To talk easily or carelessly together; to chat; to prattle.

08/08/2019

Happy #internationalcatday from everyone at 17 Gough Square, including Hodge (of course!) who as we all know was 'a very fine cat indeed'.

07/08/2019

It's our monthly Dr Johnson walk at 3pm today! Meet your guide at the front of the House to find out more about Dr Johnson's London.

24/07/2019

Word of the day: SKI'MBLESKAMBLE. adj. [A cant word formed by reduplication from scamble.] Wandering; wild.

12/07/2019

Volunteer

Volunteer with us! We're currently recruiting for a number of different roles so we'd love to hear from you if you're interested in spending a few hours each week at the House. You can find all of the different roles and how to apply here:

Dr Johnson’s House has a dedicated team of volunteers who provide invaluable support to our two members of staff, aiding the smooth running of the house.

21/06/2019

Art workshop - Memory and Object - The Museum of Methodism & John Wesley's House

Join Jessica Hebden from The Leys Art department at The Museum of Methodism & John Wesley's House for a free printing workshop on 6 July including cyanotypes, screen printing, and much more! Full details available here:

An experimental print workshop for young artists that explores the collection of Wesley’s House and Museum coupled with personal articles.

10/06/2019

Word of the day: TO'WNTALK. n.s. [town and talk.] Common prattle of a place.

09/06/2019

DESE'RVER. n.s. [from deserve.] A man who merits rewards. It is used, I think, only in a good sense.

08/06/2019

SE'CRETIST. n.s. [from secret.] A dealer in secrets.

08/06/2019

Happy #Caturday from Hodge and everyone else at 17 Gough Square! What are you and your feline friends up to today?

06/06/2019

It's #volunteersweek so we'd like to say a massive thank you to our team! Whether its welcoming visitors to the House, helping us to run events, or even humouring us when we ask you to don an 18th century dress...we simply couldn't do it without you!

05/06/2019

Tobias Smollett: The Expedition of Humphry Clinker

The latest blog post from our Reading Circle is up online, find out what our members thought of Tobias Smollett's The Expedition of Humphry Clinker:

By Adam Stevenson The Expedition of Humphry Clinker was the last book written by Scottish doctor-turned-writer, Tobias Smollett and published in the last year of his life. It charts the journey of …

03/06/2019

Word of the day: Marblehe'arted. adj. [marble and heart.] Cruel; insensible; hard-hearted.

"Ingratitude! thou marblehearted fiend,
More hideous, when thou shew'st thee in a child,
Than the sea monster." King Lear

02/06/2019

Word of the day: O'gler. n.s. [oogheler, Dutch.] A sly gazer; one who views with side glances.

"Jack was a prodigious ogler; he would ogle you the outside of his eye inward, and the white upward." Arbuthnot.

01/06/2019

Word of the day: Re'vel-rout. n.s.
1. A mob; an unlawful assembly of a rabble.
2. Tumultuous festivity.

"For this his minion, the revel-rout is done." Rowe.

30/05/2019

Don't forget to book your place to hear Philip Smallwood, Emeritus Professor of English at Birmingham City University, speak on Johnson's Lives of The Most Eminent English Poets - his final great work. Tickets and further information are available here: http://bit.ly/2xBhvzO

24/05/2019

Word of the day: Toyman. n.s. A seller of toys.

"But what in oddness can be more sublime,
Than S---, the foremost toyman of his time?" Young

23/05/2019

Join Philip Smallwood, Emeritus Professor of English at Birmingham City University, on Monday 17th June to hear more about Johnson's Lives of The Most Eminent English Poets - his final great work. Tickets and further information are available here: https://bit.ly/2Wk9A5T

23/05/2019

Word of the day: To Maunder. v.n. [maudire, Fr.] To grumble; to murmur.

"He made me many visits, maundring as if I had done him a discourtesy in leaving such an opening." Wiseman's Surgery.

22/05/2019

Word of the day: Perie'rgy. n.s. Needless caution in an operation; unnecessary diligence.

21/05/2019

Word of the day: Steepy. adj. [from steep.] Having a precipitous declivity. A poetical word for steep.

"A prophet some, and some a poet cry,
From steepy Othrys' top to Pylus drove
His herd; and for his pains enjoy'd his love." Dryden

20/05/2019

Word of the day: Higgler. n.s. [from higgle.] One who sells provisions by retail.

19/05/2019

Word of the day: Dallier. n.s. [from dally.] A trifler; a fondler.

"The daily dalliers with pleasant words, with smiling countenances, and with wagers purposed to be lost before they were purposed to be made."

18/05/2019

Word of the day: Complo't. n.s. [Fr. from completum, for complexum, low Latin. Menage.] A confederacy in some secret crime; a plot; a conspiracy.

"I cannot, my life, my brother, like but well
The purpose of the complot which ye tell." Hubberd's Tale

17/05/2019

ReadingCircle

We have a handful of tickets left for next week's Reading Circle on Tuesday 21 May. Join us to discuss Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker. Tickets and further information are available here: http://bit.ly/2OkFqYP

Dr Johnson’s House cordially invites you to join Dr Johnson’s Reading Circle for its fourth year. An intimate after-hours reading group led by a prominent eighteenth-century academic, the Circle meets bi-monthly in the former home of Dr Samuel Johnson.

14/05/2019

Join us on Monday 17th June for a talk from Philip Smallwood, Emeritus Professor of English at Birmingham City University, on Johnson's Lives of the Poets. Further information and tickets are available here: http://www.drjohnsonshouse.org/events.html

08/05/2019

Alexander Pope
The Life of Pope is the longest of the biographies written by Johnson and is often cited as his most impressive piece of critical engagement.Born in London 21st May 1688 to parents of unknown occupation Pope grew up in Hampshire and Winchester where he was educated in the classics and read voraciously, composing from an early age. Pope was precocious and ambitious. At age twelve he travelled to a Covent Garden coffee house to catch a glimpse of the ailing John Dryden, shortly before he died. The Rape of the Lock is often considered his masterpiece; Dr Johnson called it “the most exquisite example of ludicrous poetry.”

04/05/2019

Exhibitions

Our current exhibition celebrates Johnson's final major work 'Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets' - more commonly known as The Lives of Poets - so over the next few weeks we'll be posting a little information on some of the poets Johnson wrote the biographies for. We hope you find it interesting, and you can find out all of the details about the exhibition here: https://www.drjohnsonshouse.org/exhibitions.html

From 15th April 2019 To mark the 240th anniversary of Samuel Johnson’s Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (1779-81), a collection of biographies for 52 writers, started to appear, we have brought together a special exhibition of prints, books, and related publications. These objects include e...

04/05/2019

Thomas Gray is most famous for his master work Elegy Written in A Country Churchyard. This is largely because he wrote little else, completing only thirteen poems in his lifetime. He was born in Cornhill, London on 26 November 1716 and later moved to Cambridge where he became Professor of Modern History. Except for a failed attempt at a Grand Tour with Horace Walpole (the two fell out and parted midway) Gray remained in Cambridge his entire life. Known for his careful composition and cultivated mind Johnson judged him “Perhaps the most learned man in Europe.”

02/05/2019

Word of the day: LO'VETRICK. n.s. [love and trick] Art of expressing love.

01/05/2019

We're going to be closed until 2pm tomorrow as we're all in staff training. Sorry for any bother, but please do come and see us in the afternoon instead!

01/05/2019

Word of the day: SLU'BBERDEGULLION. n.s. [I suppose a cant word without derivation] A paltry, dirty, sorry wretch.

30/04/2019

Word of the day: TO'NGUEPAD. n.s. [tongue and pad] A great talker.

29/04/2019

Word of the day: SPRING. n.s. [from the verb] The season in which plants spring and vegetate; the vernal season.

28/04/2019

Word of the day: SHEE'PBITER. n.s. [from sheepbite] A petty thief.

27/04/2019

Word of the day: TE'CHY. adj. Peevish, fretful; irritable; easily made angry; froward.