Dr Johnson's House
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Distinguish". Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Dr Johnson's House is a writer's house museum in London in the former home of the 18th-century English writer and lexicographer Samuel Johnson. The house is a Grade I listed building.[1]
Description
Built at the end of the 17th century by wool merchant Richard Gough[2] (died 1728),[3] it is a rare example of a house of its era which survives in the City of London (this refers only to the 'Square Mile' of the City area, as there are many other houses of this period elsewhere in Greater London) and is the only one of Johnson's 18 residences in the City to survive.[4][5] Four bays wide and five stories tall,[5] it is located at No. 17, Gough Square, a small L-shaped court, now pedestrianised, in a tangle of ancient alleyways just to the north of Fleet Street.[3]
Johnson lived and worked in the house from 1748 to 1759, paying a rent of £30, and he compiled his famous A Dictionary of the English Language there.[5][4] In the 19th century, it was used as a hotel, a print shop and a storehouse.[2] In 1911, it was purchased by newspaper magnate and politician Cecil Harmsworth, who later commented: "At the time of my purchase of the house in April 1911, it presented every appearance of squalor and decay … It is doubtful whether in the whole of London there existed a more forlorn or dilapidated tenement."[4][6] He restored the house under the direction of architect Alfred Burr and opened it to the public in 1914.[2][4] It is now operated by a charitable trust, Dr Johnson's House Trust Ltd.[2]
The house features panelled rooms, a pine staircase, and a collection of period furniture, prints and portraits. There are exhibitions about Johnson's life and work. The house has a commemorative plaque installed on its exterior by the Royal Society of Arts in 1898.[1]
See also
- Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum in Lichfield
- Hodge (cat)
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Further reading
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
External links
- Script error: No such module "Official website".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
- Image of Dr Johnson's House at the English Heritage Archive
Script error: No such module "Navbox". Script error: No such module "Navbox". Script error: No such module "Navbox". Template:Authority control Script error: No such module "Coordinates".
- Pages with script errors
- Pages with broken file links
- 1700 establishments in England
- 1914 establishments in England
- Biographical museums in London
- Grade I listed buildings in the City of London
- Grade I listed houses
- Grade I listed museum buildings
- Historic house museums in London
- History of the City of London
- Houses completed in 1700
- Houses in the City of London
- Samuel Johnson
- Literary museums in London
- Museums established in 1914
- Museums in the City of London