A Johnson Sampler

A true sampling of everything that Samuel Johnson wrote, as well as his reported conversations, to present the sage in all his moods and on a wide range of subjects ― reading and writing, youth and age, wooing and wedding, law and government, religion, education, business, and his fellow men. Sources for each quotation, a list of suggested reading, and an excellent index are included. Pulitzer Prize winner Jackson Bate said this of Mr. Curwen’s sampler, “The finest collection, by far, of the wit and wisdom of the most quotable of writers. Time and again, in whatever direction we go, we meet Johnson returning on the way back.”

Jack Lynch, a Johnson scholar and professor of English at Rutgers University, is the editor of "Samuel Johnson's Dictionary" and the author of "The Age of Elizabeth in the Age of Johnson,"