Samuel Johnson
The naming of cats
It took a long time for cats to gain the same serious status as dogs, but by the 18th century they were starting to have personalities, says Kathryn Hughes
How the Georgians invented nightlife
Dan Hitchens on the Georgian obsession with lavish light shows and nocturnal adventures
Jonathan Bate weaves a memoir around madness in English literature
There is a trend for books in which academics write personally about their engagement with literature. Examples include Lara Feigel’s…
The dark roots of ‘grim’
‘Thus I refute Bishop Berkeley,’ said my husband, multitasking by kicking the stone and slightly misquoting Samuel Johnson at the…
Letters: Donkeys are the latest victims of China’s gross cruelty to animals
We don’t cut God Sir: The Revd Dr Peter Mullen suggests (Letters, 3 August) that Boris Johnson told him my…
Johnson & Johnson: How Samuel shaped Boris
To understand Boris Johnson, you have to understand the figure who has inspired him, shaped his worldview and accompanied him…
The holy pedigree of cats
It is claimed that the prophet Muhammad loved cats. His favourite was called Muezza and he would do without his…
As the Romans knew, eternal life is hopeless without eternal youth
A research professor has pointed out that lengthening human lifespan threatens to turn us into living zombies unless we can…
Sweet sorrow: the only grief we mention is that with comfort buried inside it
It was the phrase ‘sad sweet feeling in your heart’ that arrested my attention. But who would have thought it…
Rain, shine and the human imagination — from Adam and Eve to David Hockney
‘Pray don’t talk to me about the weather, Mr Worthing,’ pleads Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest. ‘Whenever people…
Francis Barber: reluctant member of Dr Johnson’s mad ménage
We know a great deal about Samuel Johnson and virtually nothing about his Jamaican servant, Francis Barber. The few facts…
That irritating use of ‘progressive’ is more than a century old
I was interested by the widespread annoyance at the use of progressive by the lefty parties before the election. Irritation…
Dickens’s dark side: walking at night helped ease his conscience at killing off characters
James McConnachie discovers that some of the greatest English writers — Chaucer, Blake, Dickens, Wordsworth, Dr Johnson — drew inspiration and even comfort from walking around London late at night
Ancients on oldies: tips on ageing from the Romans are all Greek to Richard Ingrams
A few months ago I went to a lunch at Univ, my old college in Oxford, to celebrate the 95th…
The Stonewall dinner left me with one question: why are volunteers so horrible to one another?
I watched the video with some trepidation. Stonewall (the campaigning gay and lesbian equality organisation) had just sent me the…
Should ‘suicide’ mean pig-killing?
There was a marvellous man in Shakespeare’s day known as John Smyth the Sebaptist. ‘In an act so deeply shocking…
My tax avoidance tip – win literary prizes!
David Cameron is said to want a woman to be chairman of the BBC Trust, now that Chris Patten has…
