John Wiltshire. The Making of Dr Johnson, Helm Information, Great Britain, 2009

2009, Johnson’s tercentenary year, saw the publication of three biographies for the popular market. And one scholarly work on the making of biographies – our own John Wiltshire’s The Making of Dr Johnson.  John’s book deals with the biographies, anecdotes, memoirs, pictures, and lampoons that have created our conception of the Great Cham. It’s the ‘the story of how Samuel Johnson was made into Dr Johnson’. The book is also an implicit analysis of the craft of making biographies.

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There will be some departures from the usual format for the JSA’s 2010 seminar on Saturday, July 24 with a more varied and entertaining program. In addition to three main…

Geoff Brand, a zoologist turned bookseller and literary connoisseur, has been co-opted to the committee of the JSA. Geoff, who holds a Doctorate in Zoology, specializing in marine biology, had…

Barrie Sheppard, the newly -elected President of the Johnson Society of Australia, has been one of our most active members since he joined the JSA in 1994. He has been…

Australian “living treasure” Dr Barry Jones attracted one of our largest audiences yet for a Fleeman Lecture, with many guests as well as members turning up in force for the…

Membership subscriptions for the Johnson Society of Australia can now be renewed through the PayPal online payment system.

This will be particularly useful for overseas members, but it will also make it quicker and more convenient for all members to get their subscriptions in on time.

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Dr Barry Jones, one of Australia’s “living treasures” will deliver the JSA’s 2009 David Fleeman Memorial Lecture after the Annual General Meeting at the English Speaking Union on Saturday, October 3, which starts at 2.30 pm.

His lecture is entitled Samuel Johnson and his Great Contemporaries.

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The Making of Dr Johnson, the latest book by JSA President John Wiltshire, officially launched by John Byrne at the 2009 seminar, traces the development of the public image of Samuel Johnson since the publication of Boswell’s Life.

The book shows there was much more to Johnson than is revealed by Boswell, who simply did not know much about important stages of Johnson’s life, and who also tended to gloss over, or hide, some aspects which did not accord with his virtual canonisation of  his subject.

John Wiltshire draws proper attention to other 18^th Century biographies and memoirs of Johnson, notably those of Sir John Hawkins and Mrs Thrale, which draw a much different picture of Johnson’s character and behaviour.  In addition, due weight is given to contemporary criticism of his work, his literary style, and his aggressive argumentation.

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An appreciative audience enjoyed the new program format for the Johnson Tercentenary Seminar and Dinner on July 25. A reading by Bronwen Hickman from Fanny Burney’s diaries separated two excellent…