Statue of Samuel Johnson

Dr Samuel Johnson
Artist	Percy Hetherington Fitzgerald
Completion date	1910
Subject	Samuel Johnson
Location	London
Coordinates	51°30′48″N0°06′49″W / 51.5132°N 0.1135°W / 51.5132; -0.1135
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Statue of Doctor Johnson in Churchyard at East End of St Clement Danes
Designated	24 February 1958
Reference no.	1237100

The statue of Samuel Johnson is a Grade II listed statue on the Strand in the Churchyard of St Clement Danes church in London. ^[1]

Samuel Johnson was a writer and lexicographer most famous for his dictionary, who lived and worked nearby on Fleet Street, a location renowned for its historic connection to print houses. It was in his house in Gough Square that Johnson wrote his dictionary. St Clement Danes was a church frequented by Johnson. ^{[2] [3]}

The statue was designed by Percy FitzGerald and was inspired by a portrait of Johnson by Sir Joshua Reynolds. As in Reynolds's portrait, the statue similarly shows Johnson with a full-bottomed wig; he also holds a book in his left hand with an inkwell at his feet. The front of the plinth on which he stands has a portrait in relief of his biographer James Boswell. ^[2] A marble statue of Johnson also stands inside St Paul's Cathedral, the first statue to be placed in the church. ^[4] In 1995 the book in Johnson's hand was stolen and replaced by a replica made by Faith Winter, who was also the sculptor of two statues at the western front of St Clement Danes.

References

1. "Statue of Doctor Johnson in Churchyard at East End of St Clement Danes, Non Civil Parish – 1237100 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
2. Matthews, Peter (2012). London's statues and monuments. Shire library. Oxford: Shire Publications. pp. 62–63. ISBN   978-0-7478-0798-8.
3. Baker, Margaret (2002). Discovering London statues and monuments. Discovering series (5. ed., revised and updated ed.). Princes Risborough: Shire Publications. p. 116. ISBN   978-0-7478-0495-6.
4. Blackwood, John; Irwin, Caroline, eds. (1989). London's immortals: the complete outdoor commemorative statues (1. publ ed.). London: Savoy Pr. p. 134. ISBN   978-0-9514296-0-0.

External links

• Media related to Statue of Samuel Johnson, London at Wikimedia Commons