"Literary Links" is a series of posts celebrating
Britain's wonderful links with great authors, dramatists and poets.
·
Samuel
Johnson’s (1709-1784) student days at Pembroke College in Oxford were cut short due to a shortage of
funds. He said, “Ah, Sir, I was mad and
violent… I was miserably poor and I thought to fight my way by my literature
and my wit: so I disregarded all power and authority.” He was devastated at having to leave, but
found his life’s calling as a writer.
His most notable work was A Dictionary of the English Language (1755) -
a massive undertaking which took him nine years. It would be another 150 years before the
Oxford English Dictionary was introduced to take its place.
This
is an excerpt from the tour Oxford’s Noble and Great Ones - Part
1 which explores around the southern part of Oxford.
The full tour is found on www.obelisktours.co.uk
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