Fans of Doctor Johnson (and we are surprisingly many) suffer from nostalgia for 18th-century London. We forget how awful it really was, what with crime, disease, filth, public executions, and so on. What we remember is that cozy room at the Turk's Head, with a warm fire, good food and wine, and the company of some of the cleverest men that ever lived. And we wish we could have been there.
For those already acquainted with Dr. Johnson and his circle, this new book by Harvard professor Leo Damrosch will be a must. Knowing that many good Johnson biographies already exist, the author has not simply written one more. On the contrary, his work, entitled “The Club,” does exactly what it says on the package: it is not a biography of Johnson—although it includes him--but rather a tour through his brilliant group. Here we find Boswell, of course, as well as such lights as Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, Oliver Goldsmith, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Edward Gibbon...what a chat room! Most of them are given at least capsule biographies and descriptions, followed by anecdotes about their adventures in the Club. Some important non-club-members, such as Hester Thrale and Fanny Burney, are also given their due.
A problem in Johnson studies is just why we should care about Johnson at all, as almost none of his writings are read for pleasure today. The answer is that as a personality he was not only brilliant, but also so very human. And how do we know this? We know it from Boswell. Without Boswell, there would be no Samuel Johnson today. So in my opinion, Boswell's “Life of Johnson” is the first book one should read. No other book—including this one—brings Johnson to life the way Boswell does, and it is one's personal acquaintance with Johnson that is really the point. But then, having read Boswell, one would like to know more, and that is where Prof. Damrosch comes in. His book is well written (as it must be, for anyone in contact with Johnson), plentifully researched, tastefully presented, and furnished with delightful illustrations, and it supplies all sorts of interesting information that one doesn't get from Boswell. Damrosch serves up succulent titbits, often followed by “That was another conversation that didn't get into 'The Life of Johnson.'” Boswell was selective in his reporting. He had to watch out for Johnson's reputation and his own (which in fact needed a good deal of watching), and he also had his own personal dislikes, such as that for Edward Gibbon, who appears practically not at all in the “Life.” Prof. Damrosch does a fine job of filling in the corners that Boswell left, and in the process succeeds in bringing Dr. Johnson himself even more to life—which as I mentioned, is the point of the whole thing.
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A Fine Integration of Images and Text
The descriptive subtitle of this volume is "Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age." The "friends" include such luminaries as Burke, Reynolds, Adam Smith, Garrick and Goldsmith. all members of "The Club" a meeting of distinguished and often highly accomplished gentlemen (alas, no women). The author, Leo Damrosch, uses the interraction of these figures to further illuminate their world and their accomplishments. Imagine a room in today's London where Meryl Streep, Alan Ayckbourn, Walter Isaacson, David Hockney. and Alan Greenspan and other geniuses meet regulary over the course of thirty years. Though I am a frequent purchaser of digital books, I recommend the reader purchase a physical copy of this work. A highlight of the history is the careful selection of accompanying illustrations better appreciated in analog. These full-color and monochrome paintings, etchings and maps are integral to the prose. For example, the early life of Johnson is accompanied by a woodcut of his birthplace, a caricature of a Grub Street poet, a portrait of Johnson's wife, Tetty, a picture of a manuscript page of The Vanity of Human Wishes, and a shimmering Canaletto painting of contemporary London rendered as twin of Venice. This multi-biography is exceptionally readable, written with economy and style. Though Damrosch's subjects have been extensively studied and written about, he manages to add much to the canon which is new and interesting.
Top reviews from other countries
William C. Mahaney
Relive the conversations of Johnson's inner circle
Reviewed in Canada on December 22, 2020Bárbara Jacobs
The Club: Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age
Reviewed in Mexico on October 3, 2020
Jac Aranda
Gives Flavour of the Period
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 2, 2021