Dr Johnson's House: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 51°30′54″N 0°06′29″W / 51.51500°N 0.10806°W / 51.51500; -0.10806
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
No edit summary
m Reordered categories
 
(36 intermediate revisions by 21 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{distinguish|Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox Historic building
[[File:Dr. Johnson's House.jpg|thumb|right|Dr Johnson's House pictured in 2010.]]
|name = Dr Johnson's House
'''Dr Johnson's House''' is a [[writer's house museum]] in [[London]] in the former home of the 18th-century English writer and [[lexicography|lexicographer]] [[Samuel Johnson]].
|former_name=
|image = File:Dr. Johnson's House.jpg
|caption = Dr Johnson's House seen from Gough Square, in 2010
|map_type = United Kingdom London City of London
|location_town = [[City of London]]<br />[[London]], {{postcode|EC|4A}}
|location_country = England, United Kingdom
|architect =
|client = Richard Gough
|engineer =
|construction_start_date =
|completion_date = {{circa}} 1700
| renovation_date = 1914
| designations = [[Listed building|Grade I listed]]<ref name="NHLE"/>
|date_demolished =
|cost =
|structural_system =
|floor_count = 5
|known_for = Home of Samuel Johnson from 1748 to 1759
|style =
}}


'''Dr Johnson's House''' is a [[writer's house museum]] in [[London]] in the former home of the 18th-century English writer and [[lexicography|lexicographer]] [[Samuel Johnson]]. The house is a [[Listed building|Grade I listed building]].<ref name="NHLE">{{NHLE|num=1192738|desc=Dr Johnsons House|date= 4 January 1950|access-date=25 March 2024}}</ref>
Built in 1700 by wool merchant Richard Gough, <ref name=webhist>{{cite web | url=http://www.drjohnsonshouse.org/history.htm | title=Dr Johnson's House – History | publisher=Dr Johnson's House Trust | year=2006 | accessdate=26 February 2012 }}</ref> (died 1728)<ref name=hibbert334>{{cite book | title=The London Encyclopaedia | edition=3rd | author1=Christopher Hibbert | author2=Ben Weinreb | author3=John Keay | author4=Julia Keay | publisher=Pan Macmillan | year=2011 | isbn=0-230-73878-8 | page=334 }}</ref> 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.<ref name=hibbert443/><ref name=hitchings>{{cite book | title=Dr Johnson's Dictionary: The Book that Defined the World | author=Henry Hitchings | publisher=Hachette | year=2012 | isbn=1-84854-718-8 }}</ref> Five bays wide and five stories high,<ref name=hitchings/> 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]].<ref name=hibbert334/>


==Description==
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.<ref name=hitchings/><ref name=hibbert443>{{cite book | title=The London Encyclopaedia | edition=3rd | author1=Christopher Hibbert | author2=Ben Weinreb | author3=John Keay | author4=Julia Keay | publisher=Pan Macmillan | year=2011 | isbn=0-230-73878-8 | pages=443–444 }}</ref> In the 19th century, it saw use as a hotel, a print shop and a storehouse.<ref name=webhist/> 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."<ref>{{cite book | title=Literary London | author=Andrew Davies | publisher=Macmillan | year=1988 | isbn=0-333-45708-0 | page=235 }}</ref><ref name=hibbert443/> He restored the house and opened it to the public in 1914.<ref name=webhist/><ref name=hibbert443/> It is now operated by a charitable trust, Dr Johnson's House Trust Ltd.<ref name=webhist/>
[[File:SamuelJohnsonPlaque.jpg|thumb|Samuel Johnson commemorative plaque at Dr Johnson's House]]
Built at the end of the 17th century by wool merchant Richard Gough<ref name=webhist>{{cite web | url=http://www.drjohnsonshouse.org/house.html | title=Dr Johnson's House – 17 Gough Square | publisher=Dr Johnson's House Trust | year=2006 | access-date=31 July 2016}}</ref> (died 1728),<ref name=hibbert334>{{cite book | title=The London Encyclopaedia | edition=3rd | author1=Christopher Hibbert | author2=Ben Weinreb | author3=John Keay | author4=Julia Keay | publisher=Pan Macmillan | year=2011 | isbn=0-230-73878-8 | page=334 }}</ref> 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.<ref name=hibbert443/><ref name=hitchings>{{cite book | title=Dr Johnson's Dictionary: The Book that Defined the World | author=Henry Hitchings | publisher=Hachette | year=2012 | isbn=1-84854-718-8 }}</ref> Four bays wide and five stories tall,<ref name=hitchings/> 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]].<ref name=hibbert334/>


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.<ref name=hitchings/><ref name=hibbert443>{{cite book | title=The London Encyclopaedia | edition=3rd | author1=Christopher Hibbert | author2=Ben Weinreb | author3=John Keay | author4=Julia Keay | publisher=Pan Macmillan | year=2011 | isbn=0-230-73878-8 | pages=443–444 }}</ref> In the 19th century, it was used as a hotel, a print shop and a storehouse.<ref name=webhist/> 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."<ref name=hibbert443/><ref>{{cite book | title=Literary London | author=Andrew Davies | publisher=Macmillan | year=1988 | isbn=0-333-45708-0 | page=235 }}</ref> He restored the house under the direction of architect [[Alfred Burr]] and opened it to the public in 1914.<ref name=webhist/><ref name=hibbert443/> It is now operated by a charitable trust, Dr Johnson's House Trust Ltd.<ref name=webhist/>
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 [[blue plaque|commemorative plaque]] installed on its exterior by the [[Royal Society of Arts]] in 1876.<ref name=blueplacque>{{cite web |url= http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/discover/blue-plaques/search/johnson-dr-samuel-1709-1784|title=JOHNSON, Dr Samuel (1709-1784)| publisher=English Heritage|year=| accessdate=14 June 2013}}</ref>

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 [[blue plaque|commemorative plaque]] installed on its exterior by the [[Royal Society of Arts]] in 1898.<ref name="NHLE"/>


==See also==
==See also==
[[Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum]] in Lichfield
* [[Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum]] in Lichfield
* [[Hodge (cat)]]


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist|2}}


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
Line 20: Line 46:


==External links==
==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.drjohnsonshouse.org/ Official website]
* {{Official website}}
* [http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/mediekultur/article/view/2982 Four steps in the history of museum technologies and visitors' digital participation]
* [http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/results.aspx?index=0&mainQuery=Johnsons%20House&searchType=exact&form=basic&theme=&county=GREATER%20LONDON&district=&placeName= Images of Dr Johnson's House] at the [[English Heritage Archive]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180403012617/http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/reference.aspx?uid=175404 Image of Dr Johnson's House] at the [[English Heritage Archive]]


{{Samuel Johnson|state=expanded}}
{{Samuel Johnson|state=expanded}}
{{Museums and galleries in London}}
{{Museums and galleries in London}}
{{City of London}}
{{City of London}}
{{Authority control}}
{{coord|51|30|54|N|0|06|29|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}
{{Coord|51|30|54|N|0|06|29|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor Johnson's House}}
[[Category:Houses in the City of London]]
[[Category:History of the City of London]]
[[Category:1700 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1914 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Biographical museums in London]]
[[Category:Biographical museums in London]]
[[Category:Literary museums in London]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in the City of London]]
[[Category:Grade I listed houses]]
[[Category:Grade I listed museum buildings]]
[[Category:Historic house museums in London]]
[[Category:Historic house museums in London]]
[[Category:Museums in the City of London]]
[[Category:History of the City of London]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1700]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1700]]
[[Category:Museums established in 1914]]
[[Category:Houses in the City of London]]
[[Category:1914 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Samuel Johnson]]
[[Category:Samuel Johnson]]
[[Category:Grade I listed houses]]
[[Category:Literary museums in London]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in the City of London]]
[[Category:Museums established in 1914]]
[[Category:Museums in the City of London]]

Latest revision as of 09:41, 29 March 2024

Dr Johnson's House
Dr Johnson's House seen from Gough Square, in 2010
Dr Johnson's House is located in City of London
Dr Johnson's House
Location within City of London
General information
Town or cityCity of London
London, EC4A
CountryEngland, United Kingdom
Completedc. 1700
Renovated1914
ClientRichard Gough
Technical details
Floor count5
DesignationsGrade I listed[1]
Known forHome of Samuel Johnson from 1748 to 1759

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[edit]

Samuel Johnson commemorative plaque at Dr Johnson's House

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[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Historic England (4 January 1950). "Dr Johnsons House (1192738)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d "Dr Johnson's House – 17 Gough Square". Dr Johnson's House Trust. 2006. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  3. ^ a b Christopher Hibbert; Ben Weinreb; John Keay; Julia Keay (2011). The London Encyclopaedia (3rd ed.). Pan Macmillan. p. 334. ISBN 0-230-73878-8.
  4. ^ a b c d Christopher Hibbert; Ben Weinreb; John Keay; Julia Keay (2011). The London Encyclopaedia (3rd ed.). Pan Macmillan. pp. 443–444. ISBN 0-230-73878-8.
  5. ^ a b c Henry Hitchings (2012). Dr Johnson's Dictionary: The Book that Defined the World. Hachette. ISBN 1-84854-718-8.
  6. ^ Andrew Davies (1988). Literary London. Macmillan. p. 235. ISBN 0-333-45708-0.

Further reading[edit]

  • Cecil Harmsworth; Helen Reid Cross; Daphne Macneile Dixon; Claudine Currey (1977). Dr. Johnson's house: Gough Square (revised ed.). Trustees of Dr. Johnson's House.

External links[edit]

51°30′54″N 0°06′29″W / 51.51500°N 0.10806°W / 51.51500; -0.10806