Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets
Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (1779–81), alternatively known by the shorter title Lives of the Poets, is a work by Samuel Johnson comprising short biographies and critical appraisals of 52 poets, most of whom lived during the eighteenth century. These were arranged, approximately, by date of death.
A print of Samuel Johnson, based on a portrait by Joshua Reynolds, later used in the 1806 edition of the Lives of the Poets
Title page of a 1781 edition of Samuel Johnson's Lives of the Poets
Samuel Johnson, often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography calls him "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history".
Portrait by Joshua Reynolds, c. 1772
Johnson's birthplace in Market Square, Lichfield
Entrance of Pembroke College, Oxford
Elizabeth "Tetty" Porter, Johnson's wife