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The Rambler was a periodical (strictly, a series of short papers) by Samuel Johnson.
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The Rambler was a periodical (strictly, a series of short papers) by Samuel Johnson.
The Rambler was published on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 1750 to 1752 [1] and totals 208 articles. [2] It was Johnson's most consistent and sustained work in the English language. Though The Rambler was superficially similar to earlier publications such as The Spectator and The Tatler , Johnson made his periodical unique by using a style of prose which differed from that of the time period. The most popular publications of the day were written in the common or colloquial language of the people whereas The Rambler was written in elevated prose. The Rambler discussed subjects such as morality, literature, society, politics, and religion. Johnson included quotes and ideas in his publication from Renaissance humanists such as Desiderius Erasmus and René Descartes. His writings in The Rambler are considered to be neoclassical.
The Rambler was written primarily for the newfound, rising middle-class of the 18th century, who sought social fluency within aristocratic social circles. It was especially targeted to the middle-class audience that were increasingly marrying into aristocratic families in order to create socio-economic alliances, but did not possess the social and intellectual tools to integrate into those higher social circles which required great understanding of subjects, as listed above in the Description. Copies of The Rambler were written in essay form and were made cheaply available to the middle-class. In his fourth section of The Rambler (31 March 1750), Johnson points out that he would like to "Join both profit and delight in one" in the prelude; that is, provide intellectual profit and literary delight to those who read his work. This desire to "join both profit and delight" streams throughout the publications, and is particularly resonant of Classical literary design. The majority of the subject matter in The Rambler focused more on moral than social issues. In this sense, Johnson's writings were didactic, although he maintains an explorative attitude rather than a strictly instructive voice.
As its author lamented in its final essay, "I have never been much a favourite to the publick," the publication was not an immediate success. Perhaps this was due to Johnson's departure from The Spectator, which could be considered his precedent. The latter was a periodical published from 1711 to 1712 by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, popular for its light treatment of elevated subjects by "enliven[ing] morality with wit." In tone and subject matter, The Rambler was both lengthier and more serious than its popular ancestor in the genre. It also had a strong element of didacticism. The Rambler contained more sermon-like reflective essays and lacked the Spectator's "dramatic" qualities. [3]
There were many however who religiously read and appreciated the publication. In his biography of Johnson, James Boswell quotes one contemporary review of The Rambler by Bonnell Thornton and George Colman, "May the publick favours crown his merits, and may not the English, under the auspicious reign of George the Second, neglect a man, who, had he lived in the first century, would have been one of the greatest favourites of Augustus." [4] [5] The Rambler was widely respected for the quality and power of the writing and the masterful use of language and rhetoric.
In 1901, Herbert Vivian produced a magazine called "The Rambler" that he intended as a revival of Johnson's periodical. The revived magazine only lasted until 1902. [6]
Samuel Johnson, often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography calls him "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history".
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck, was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of the English writer Samuel Johnson, Life of Samuel Johnson, which is commonly said to be the greatest biography written in the English language. A great mass of Boswell's diaries, letters, and private papers were recovered from the 1920s to the 1950s, and their publication by Yale University has transformed his reputation.
George Birkbeck Norman Hill was an English editor and author.
Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasises instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is a conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to explain.
The Gentleman's Magazine was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term magazine for a periodical. Samuel Johnson's first regular employment as a writer was with The Gentleman's Magazine.
Elizabeth Carter was an English poet, classicist, writer, translator, and linguist. As one of the Bluestocking Circle that surrounded Elizabeth Montagu, she earned respect for the first English translation of the 2nd-century Discourses of Epictetus. She also published poems and translated from French and Italian, and corresponded profusely. Among her many eminent friends were Elizabeth Montagu, Hannah More, Hester Chapone and other Bluestocking members. Also close friends were Anne Hunter, a poet and socialite, and Mary Delany. She befriended Samuel Johnson, editing some editions of his periodical The Rambler.
Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (1779–81), alternatively known by the shorter title Lives of the Poets, is a work by Samuel Johnson comprising short biographies and critical appraisals of 52 poets, most of whom lived during the eighteenth century. These were arranged, approximately, by date of death.
Thomas Percy was Bishop of Dromore, County Down, Ireland. Before being made bishop, he was chaplain to George III of the United Kingdom. Percy's greatest contribution is considered to be his Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765), the first of the great ballad collections, which was the one work most responsible for the ballad revival in English poetry that was a significant part of the Romantic movement.
The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. (1791) by James Boswell is a biography of English writer and literary critic Samuel Johnson. The work was from the beginning a universal critical and popular success, and represents a landmark in the development of the modern genre of biography. Many have called it the greatest biography written in English, one of the greatest biographies ever written, and among the greatest nonfiction books of all time. The book is valued as both an important source of information on Johnson and his times, as well as an important and enduring work of literature.
James Elphinston was a well noted 18th-century Scottish educator, orthographer, phonologist and linguistics expert.
Bonnell Thornton (1725–1768) was an English poet, essayist, and critic. He was educated at Westminster School, and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. in 1747.
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents a subject's life story, highlighting various aspects of their life, including intimate details of experience, and may include an analysis of the subject's personality.
The Birmingham Journal was the first newspaper known to have been published in Birmingham, England. Little is known of it as few records remain, but a single copy survives in the Library of Birmingham: Number 28, dated Monday May 21, 1733. It is assumed from this that the first edition was probably published on 14 November 1732.
London is a poem by Samuel Johnson, produced shortly after he moved to London. Written in 1738, it was his first major published work. The poem in 263 lines imitates Juvenal's Third Satire, expressed by the character of Thales as he decides to leave London for Wales. Johnson imitated Juvenal because of his fondness for the Roman poet and he was following a popular 18th-century trend of Augustan poets headed by Alexander Pope that favoured imitations of classical poets, especially for young poets in their first ventures into published verse.
William Kenrick was an English novelist, playwright, translator and satirist, who spent much of his career libelling and lampooning his fellow writers.
Alexander Donaldson was a Scottish bookseller, publisher, and printer. Donaldson was the founding publisher of the weekly newspaper, the Edinburgh Advertiser. He was also known for selling cheap copies of books after their copyright had expired in disregard to London booksellers' opinions on literary property.
Peter Martin is an English literature scholar, biographer, and an 18th century garden historian. He was educated and has taught in the United States. He lives in England and Spain.
The Tatler was a British literary and society journal begun by Richard Steele in 1709 and published for two years. It represented a new approach to journalism, featuring cultivated essays on contemporary manners, and established the pattern that would be copied in such British classics as Addison and Steele's The Spectator, Samuel Johnson's The Rambler and The Idler, and Goldsmith's Citizen of the World. The Tatler would also influence essayists as late as Charles Lamb and William Hazlitt. Addison and Steele liquidated The Tatler in order to make a fresh start with the similar Spectator, and the collected issues of Tatler are usually published in the same volume as the collected Spectator.
John Taylor of Ashbourne, Derbyshire was an English lawyer and cleric, known as a wealthy landowner and stockbreeder. He was at school with Samuel Johnson, and they became lifelong friends.
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