Physical description

Hard cover book. The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets
Author: Samuel Johnson
Publisher: George Clark & Co
Date: 1857
Further Information: Green Cloth hardcover reprinted edition with lettering to spine in gilt. The spine has a Library label with an inscription.

Publication type

fiction

Inscriptions & markings

A label on spine with typed text PAT 928 JOH
Front loose end paper has a sticker from Corangamite Regional Library Service
Front loose end paper has a stamp from Corangamite Regional Library Service
Paste down front end paper has a sticker from Warrnambool Public Library

Summary

The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (often called Lives of the Poets) is Samuel Johnson's collection of 52 short biographies and critical essays on English poets, most from the 17th and 18th centuries, arranged roughly by date of death. Originally commissioned by a group of London booksellers as prefaces to a multi-volume anthology of poetry, Johnson ended up writing far more than intended the "prefaces" grew into full biographical-critical essays. It was first published in 1779–81 (as Prefaces, Biographical and Critical), then reissued under this now-familiar title. His essays on Cowley, Milton, Dryden, Swift, and Pope in particular were quickly recognised as setting a new standard for English literary biography.