Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
At age 28, Johnson arrived in London with one of his former students, David Garrick,
who went on to revolutionize London theater. Dr. Johnson prowled the pubs, brothels, cof-
feehouses, and illicit gaming pits where terriers battled cornered rats while men bet on the
outcome. Johnson—described as “tall, stout,” and “slovenly in his dress”—became a well-
known eccentric and man-about-town, though he always seemed to live on the fringes of
poverty. At the far end of Gough Square is a statue of Johnson's beloved cat Hodge, who
dined on oysters.
Johnson inhabited this house from 1748 to 1759. He prayed at St. Clement Danes,
drank in Fleet Street pubs, and, in the attic of the house, produced his most famous work,
A Dictionary of the English Language
. Published in 1755, it was the first great English-
language dictionary, starring Johnson's 42,773 favorite words culled from all the topics
he'd read. It took Johnson and six assistants more than six years to sift through all the
alternate spellings and Cockney dialects of the world's most complex language. He stand-
ardized spelling and pronunciation, explained each word's etymology, and occasionally
put his own droll spin on words. (“Oats: a grain, which is generally given to horses, but in
Scotland supports the people.”)
