Excerpt: ...sudden and surprising celebrity but all that happy ease of the Streatham life, and the cleverness and good humour of Mrs. Thrale, to help her. No wonder Johnson was at his brightest in such circumstances. But his easy sociability there was no sudden revolution in his nature. Sir John Hawkins, who, though never a very congenial companion, had known him longer than almost any of his friends, says of him that he was "a great contributor to the mirth of conversation." And constant glimpses of his lighter side are ...
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Excerpt: ...sudden and surprising celebrity but all that happy ease of the Streatham life, and the cleverness and good humour of Mrs. Thrale, to help her. No wonder Johnson was at his brightest in such circumstances. But his easy sociability there was no sudden revolution in his nature. Sir John Hawkins, who, though never a very congenial companion, had known him longer than almost any of his friends, says of him that he was "a great contributor to the mirth of conversation." And constant glimpses of his lighter side are caught all through Boswell, such as that picture of him at Corrichatachin, in Skye, 132 sitting with a young Highland lady on his knee and kissing her. We have already heard his peals of midnight laughter ringing through the silent Strand. The truth is that both by nature and by principle he was a very sociable man. That is another of the elements in his permanent popularity. The man who liked all sorts and conditions of men when he was alive has one of the surest passports to the friendliness of posterity. Johnson, like Walter Scott, could and did talk to everybody, or, rather, join in any talk that anybody started; for he seldom spoke first even among his friends. It was probably to this ease of intercourse that he owed the stores of information with which he often surprised his hearers on all sorts of unlikely subjects, such as on one occasion that of the various purposes to which bones picked up in the streets by the London poor are put, and the use of a particular paste in melting iron. But in these casual conversations he was not consciously seeking information as Scott partly was; he was just giving play to his natural sociability, or perhaps deliberately acting on the principle of humani nihil, which no one ever held more strongly than he. He always condemned the cold reserve so common among Englishmen. Two strangers of any other nation, he used to say, will find 133 some topic of talk at once when they are thrown into an inn parlour...
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Add this copy of Dr. Johnson and His Circle to cart. $5.62, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2016 by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.
Add this copy of Dr. Johnson and His Circle to cart. $6.43, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2019 by Independently Published.
Add this copy of Dr. Johnson and His Circle to cart. $10.61, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2021 by Alpha Edition.
Add this copy of Dr. Johnson and His Circle to cart. $12.25, good condition, Sold by Lee Madden Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brattleboro, VT, UNITED STATES, published 1976 by Folcroft Library Editions.
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Seller's Description:
Good. Folcroft Library Editions, 1976. Good+ HC, no DJ. Ex-Library. Brown cloth over boards, silver titles. Bright, clean, square covers and spine: label at lower spine; stamped on text block top and fore edge; stamped on front rear end papers; card pocket on rear pastedown; tightly bound; clean interior. 8vo, 256 pp; index, biblio.
Add this copy of Dr. Johnson and His Circle to cart. $14.03, good condition, Sold by John C. Newland rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Cheltenham, Glos., UNITED KINGDOM, published 1947 by Oxford University Press.
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Used-Very Good. VG hardback in VG dust jacket. 2nd edition reprint, 1957. Some foxing; binding tight; dust jacket a little worn, with lightly browned spine. The Home University Library of Modern Knowledge series.
Add this copy of Dr. Johnson and His Circle to cart. $19.28, poor condition, Sold by Anybook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published by Williams and Norgate.
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This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. In poor condition, suitable as a reading copy. No dust jacket. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 300grams, ISBN:
Add this copy of Dr Johnson and His Circle to cart. $19.33, fair condition, Sold by Anybook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1913 by Williams and Norgate.
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Seller's Description:
This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. In fair condition, suitable as a study copy. No dust jacket. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 300grams, ISBN:
Add this copy of Dr. Johnson and His Circle to cart. $20.12, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2012 by Tredition Classics.
Add this copy of Dr. Johnson and His Circle to cart. $22.20, good condition, Sold by Anybook rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lincoln, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1947 by Oxford University Press.
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This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. In good all round condition. Dust jacket in good condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 250grams, ISBN:
Add this copy of Dr. Johnson and His Circle (Home University Library of to cart. $22.77, good condition, Sold by The Book Tree rated 1.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Devizes, WILTS, UNITED KINGDOM, published by Williams and Norgate.
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Seller's Description:
Good. Undated. Dark brown leather boards with gilt W & N motif on front and gilt titles to spine. Border on front with 6 gilt dots in each corner. Spine cover edges splitting. Prev owner's bookplate on front paste down (printed dated 1918). Some discolouration to end papers, otherwise internally very good.
