The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. in Nine Volumes, Volume 05: Miscellaneous Pieces

In Short

This fifth volume of Samuel Johnson's collected works brings together his miscellaneous critical, biographical, and introductory writings. Rather than a single narrative, the collection displays a master critic applying a unified philosophical approach to diverse cultural subjects. Johnson surveys the history and structure of the English language, offers groundbreaking textual and psychological analyses of Shakespeare, introduces major national libraries and translations, and formulates sharp legal and social arguments on topics ranging from stage censorship to copyright law. Throughout these varied pieces, Johnson evaluates human effort against the harsh realities of neglect, error, and physical mortality. The volume endures because it exhibits one of the English language's greatest prose stylists systematically dismantling intellectual pretense while defending the practical value of literature and learning.

The Story

The volume opens with Johnson’s foundational work on lexicography, detailing the vast ambition and inherent heartbreak of compiling his monument to the English language. Addressing the Earl of Chesterfield in his early plan, and later reflecting in the famous preface to the dictionary itself, Johnson presents the lexicographer not as a heroic figure, but as an exhausted "pioneer of literature, doomed only to remove rubbish and clear obstructions." He charts the chaotic state of an uncodified tongue—"copious without order, and energetick without rules"—and explains the laborious process of gathering citations from classical writers. Admitting necessary omissions, such as specialized trade jargon and ephemeral slang, Johnson accepts that no dictionary can freeze a living language, framing the scholar's task as a noble yet doomed struggle against time and corruption.

From the mechanics of vocabulary, the volume moves into literary criticism with Johnson’s extensive commentary on Shakespeare. Beginning with notes on Macbeth, his proposals for a definitive edition, and his celebrated Preface to Shakespeare, Johnson defends the playwright's departure from classical rules like the unities of time and place. He argues that Shakespeare’s characters are not individual oddities but universal representations of human nature. Yet Johnson remains an unsparing judge: he highlights Shakespeare's flaws, particularly his inability to resist a pun or "quibble," which Johnson famously likens to a fatal Cleopatra for which the poet was always content to lose the world. The section concludes with specific, incisive observations on individual plays, weighing the structural failures and brilliant strokes of genius in works like Measure for Measure, Love's Labour's Lost, and The Merchant of Venice.

The collection then shifts toward bibliographical and educational writings. Johnson details the massive undertaking of cataloging the Harleian Library, praising the collectors who preserved rare manuscripts instead of squandering their fortunes on idle pleasures. He defends the value of small political tracts and pamphlets as vital records of history, and provides sweeping historical introductions to geography, trade, and global travel, including an account of early Portuguese searchers seeking the legendary kingdom of Prester John. Interspersed among these are sharp journalistic essays, such as a scathing satire on the licensers of the stage, where Johnson uses ironic praise to expose political censorship under the Walpole administration, and a humorous proposal to enlist impoverished, out-of-work authors directly into the military.

In its final movement, the volume presents Johnson's legal opinions and philosophical essays on public affairs. Writing on behalf of others or advising his friend James Boswell, Johnson analyzes complex legal dilemmas with dry, devastating logic. He examines the legal rights of publishers regarding abridgments, arguing that condensing a bloated book benefits human knowledge without violating property rights. He constructs arguments on school discipline, the rights of lay patrons in the Church of Scotland, and the boundaries of pulpit censure when a minister publicly rebukes a immoral parishioner. The volume concludes on these practical applications of reason, demonstrating how scholarly rigor can directly inform the social, legal, and moral governance of daily life.

How It Unfolds

The scholar's burden Johnson lays out his plan and subsequent preface for the English dictionary, cataloging the immense friction of gathering vocabulary from scattered texts. He outlines his method of selecting classical authorities while acknowledging that living speech inevitably escapes the lexicographer's net.

Dissecting the bard Turning his critical eye to Shakespeare, Johnson dismantles the rigid requirements of classical dramatic unities and celebrates Shakespeare's psychological realism. He balances high praise for the playwright's timeless human insights with blunt criticism of his structural carelessness and obsession with wordplay.

Preserving cultural memory In his essays on the Harleian Library and historical pamphlets, Johnson argues for the systematic preservation of books and minor tracts. He defends catalogers and antiquarians as essential public benefactors who rescue national history from oblivion.

Exposing political hypocrisy Through ironical essays on stage licensing and author employment, Johnson lampoons government overreach and the absurdities of literary patronage. He sarcastically suggests that starving writers make ideal soldiers because they are already accustomed to hunger, danger, and strict obedience.

Justice and the written word The final section collects Johnson's legal analyses regarding intellectual property, church governance, and freedom of speech. He delivers precise legal arguments that balance individual rights against the broader advancement of public knowledge and moral order.

The People

Samuel Johnson The author and pervasive central intellect of every essay. Johnson approaches the world as a battleground between human aspiration and unavoidable imperfection. He wants to establish clear rules for language, literature, and social duty, but his deep experience with poverty and neglect leaves him deeply skeptical of smooth theories. In his dictionary preface, he appears as a weary drudge; in his Shakespeare criticism, as a fearless, independent judge; and in his legal writings, as an unyielding champion of practical reason.

William Shakespeare Analyzed in the volume not as an infallible deity, but as a flawed human genius. Shakespeare wants to hold up a mirror to human nature and move his audience through drama, yet he is constantly distracted by low humor, convoluted plots, and irresistible wordplay. Johnson treats him as the ultimate test case for literary criticism, demonstrating that supreme artistic genius can coexist with glaring stylistic defects.

The English Lexicographer Personified by Johnson as a tragic, unthanked figure in the republic of letters. The lexicographer desires to bring order to a chaotic language and achieve intellectual distinction, but is trapped in mechanical toil and exposed to constant blame without the hope of praise. Through this figure, Johnson explores the quiet indignity of essential scholarly labor.

Jean-Crousaz and William Warburton Rival intellectuals whose bitter public feud over Alexander Pope's poetry Johnson analyzes. Crousaz attacks Pope's philosophy with moral earnestness, while Warburton defends it with aggressive arrogance. Johnson steps between them as an objective moderator, valuing Crousaz's moral intentions while stripping away Warburton's personal invective to focus on rational truth.

In Its Own Voice

"Among these unhappy mortals is the writer of dictionaries; whom mankind have considered, not as the pupil, but the slave of science, the pioneer of literature, doomed only to remove rubbish and clear obstructions from the paths, through which Learning and Genius press forward to conquest and glory, without bestowing a smile on the humble drudge that facilitates their progress."

Johnson introduces his monumental dictionary by framing the lexicographer as an unappreciated, unrewarded laborer clearing the path for greater minds.

"A quibble was to him the fatal Cleopatra for which he lost the world, and was content to lose it."

In his famous evaluation of Shakespeare, Johnson uses a vivid historical metaphor to explain how the playwright routinely sacrificed dramatic tension for a cheap play on words.

"Trade and manufactures, however profitable, must yield to the cultivation of lands in usefulness and dignity."

Reflecting on national economy, Johnson insists that true national security rests on the quiet, independent labor of agriculture rather than the shifting fortunes of foreign commerce.

What It's Really About

At its core, this volume is an investigation into how human intelligence confronts disorder, vanity, and decay. Whether Johnson is reviewing corrupt lines of verse, sorting through uncataloged library archives, or evaluating economic laws, his underlying argument remains constant: human knowledge is fragile, and true progress requires rigorous honesty rather than flattering illusions.

Johnson repeatedly attacks intellectual pride. He shows that language cannot be frozen by academic decree, that even the greatest writers succumb to terrible stylistic habits, and that public policy often hides behind self-serving rhetoric. Against these failures, Johnson sets up a morality of hard work and mental clarity. He argues that the preservation of truth—whether in a dictionary definition, a restored line of drama, or a legal precedent—is a fundamental moral duty that keeps civilization from slipping back into ignorance.

Why Read It Today

Reading this collection today offers a refreshing antidote to modern soundbites and hyperbole. Johnson’s prose moves with a magnificent, balanced cadence that makes complex analytical arguments feel urgent and alive. Readers who enjoy literary history, classical rhetoric, or the philosophy of language will find themselves in the company of a master stylist who never wastes a word or hides behind vague abstractions.

The collection does present real hurdles for contemporary readers. The formal eighteenth-century prose, filled with long Latinate sentences and dense period vocabulary, requires slow, deliberate reading. Furthermore, the volume contains specialized pieces—such as detailed textual notes on obscure Shakespearean variants or arguments on eighteenth-century Scottish church law—that demand patience and historical curiosity.

What stays with the reader, however, is Johnson’s profound, unsentimental humanity. He possesses a rare ability to combine fierce critical standards with deep sympathy for human frailty. When he defends a struggling author's destitute family, mocks political censors, or laments the lonely toil of the dictionary maker, he speaks with a moral authority that transcends his century, reminding us of the enduring power of clear thinking and honest expression.