约翰生(1709～1784年)

Johnson, Samuel

以约翰生博士（Dr. Johnson）知名

英国文人，18世纪英国杰出的人物之一。书商之子，他短期在牛津大学读书。在他与妻子兴学失败後，他迁居伦敦。他为期刊撰稿，并受雇为牛津伯爵的大图书馆编目。在辛劳八年之後的1755年，他发表划时代的《英语辞典》（1755），是第一部伟大的英语辞典，也为他带来声誉。他继续为《绅士杂志》、《世界编年》等期刊写稿，并且几乎独自写作并编辑双周刊《漫步者》（1750～1752）。他也写作戏剧，其中没有一部获得演出的成功。1765年他发表莎士比亚的评注版，其中的序文大大有助於确立莎士比亚在文学界的中心地位。他的旅行文章包括《苏格兰西部群岛之旅》（1775）。他的《英国诗人传》（10卷，1779～1781）是重要的评论作品。其他重要作品包括长诗《人类欲望的虚幻》（1749）和哲学故事《拉塞拉斯》（1759）。身为有才气的谈话者，他协助文学俱乐部的创立（约1763年），其中以杰出的成员而闻名，包括加立克、柏克、哥德斯密、雷诺兹。他的格言有助於使他成为最常被引用的英国作家之一。他的同伴包斯威尔写出约翰生的传记，为古今最受赞赏的传记之一。

English version：

1709～1784年

Johnson, Samuel

British man of letters, one of the outstanding figures of 18th-century England. The son of a poor bookseller, he briefly attended Oxford University. He moved to London after the failure of a school he and his wife had started. He wrote for periodicals and was hired to catalogue the great library of the earl of Oxford. In 1755, after eight years of labor, he produced his monumental Dictionary of the English Language (1755), the first great English dictionary, which brought him fame. He continued to write for such periodicals as The Gentleman's Magazine and The Universal Chronicle, and almost single-handedly wrote and edited the biweekly The Rambler (1750-52). He also wrote plays, none of which succeeded on the stage. In 1765 he produced a critical edition of William Shakespeare with a famous preface that did much to establish Shakespeare as the center of the literary canon. His travel writings include A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1775). His Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (10 vols., 1779-81) was a significant critical work. Other important works include the long poem The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749) and the philosophical tale Rasselas (1759). A brilliant conversationalist, he helped found the Literary Club (c. 1763), which became famous for its members of distinction, including David Garrick, Edmund Burke, Oliver Goldsmith, and Joshua Reynolds. His aphorisms helped make him one of the most frequently quoted of English writers. His companion James Boswell wrote Johnson's biography, one of the most admired biographies of all time.