Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum: Difference between revisions

Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum
Established	1707 (House) 1901 (Museum)
Location	Breadmarket Street, Lichfield, Staffordshire, England
Coordinates	52°41′01″N 1°49′40″W / 52.683481°N 1.827886°W
Type	Biographical Museum
Collection size	8,000 items
Visitors	16,000
Curator	Dr Johnson's Birthplace Trust (Lichfield City Council)
Website	http://www.samueljohnsonbirthplace.org.uk/

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Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum is a biographical museum and bookshop located in the centre of the city of Lichfield, Staffordshire, in England. The building is a Grade I listed building situated at the corner of Market Street and Breadmarket Street opposite the market square.^[1]

The museum opened in 1901 and is dedicated to the life and works of the author and lexicographer Samuel Johnson who wrote the first authoritative Dictionary of the English Language. Johnson's father built the house in 1707 and Samuel was born in the house on 18 September 1709 and spent the majority of his first 27 years in the house before leaving for London in 1737.^[2] The house was used as a commercial property for various trades between the time of Johnson's death in 1784 until the house was bought for the city by John Gilbert in 1900 for the purpose of retaining the building as a museum to Johnson. The house remains in active use as a museum.

Architecture

The house was built on the corner of Breadmarket Street and Market Street in 1707 by Johnson's father, Michael. The house is built of timber frame and brick infill, now covered in stucco.^[1] It is in a Palladian style with four storeys, the top storey being lit with dormer windows which were removed in the 18th century and restored in the 1970s.^[3] The front of the house faces onto the Market Square and on this side the upper storeys are jettied outwards over the ground floor.^[3] As built this projecting front was supported at each end by a plain pillar, these continued upwards on the corners of the upper storeys by pilasters of the Ionic order.^[3] The facing of the house was red brown brick and the roof tiles were blue black. In the 18th century two central pillars were added and one was removed in the late 19th century. In the 19th century the pilasters were removed and the outside was stuccoed.^[3]

History

Pre-museum

The house was built in 1707 by Michael Johnson and served him as a bookshop and residence.^[3] On 18 September 1709 Samuel Johnson was born at the house and spent much of his early life in the house before leaving for London with David Garrick on 2 March 1737 at the age of 27.^[2] The house continued to be occupied by Johnson's mother Sarah after his departure. On 31 January 1739, Johnson and his mother mortgaged the family home to Lichfield town clerk Theophilus Levett, a longtime friend of the family, for £80. The debt was the subject of correspondence between Johnson and Levett, as well as Levett's son John, for some years. Ultimately, Johnson paid off the outstanding mortgage in full. After the death of Johnson's mother in 1759, Johnson asked his stepdaughter Lucy Porter and his parents' servant Catherine Chambers to keep the house and continue running the business.^[4]

It is not known when the Johnsons gave up ownership of the house, it may have remained in Johnson's ownership until his death in 1784. As a year after his death in 1785 the house was sold for £235 at an auction in the Swan Inn.^[5] The buyer was bookseller Major Morgan who continued the use of the building as a bookshop.^[5] From 1817 to 1835 the house was the newspaper office of the Lichfield Mercury.^[3] It is thought it then lay empty for a number of years occasionally being used as a grocer, dentists and ironmongers before the premises were bought in 1887 by James Johnson of Stockport in order to preserve the house in which Dr Johnson was born. Under James Johnson's will the house was sold to the city in 1900, the money being given by John Gilbert, and on 27 May 1901 a museum devoted to the life and works of Samuel Johnson was opened.^[6]

Museum

The museum was opened in 1901 and contains an extensive library of manuscripts and books, including over 1,000 books collected by the Rev.d Dr Peter Hay Hunter of Edinburgh and given by his widow in 1911.^[6] The museum was run by the city council until 1974, when its management was transferred to the Dr Johnson Birthplace Trust. The restored city council have been the trustee since 1982. The museum also serves as a postal address for the Johnson Society, founded in 1910.^[6] The entrance to the bookshop part of the museum that faces onto Market Street was restored in 1990.^[1]

The museum currently contains a varied mix of displays, reconstructed rooms and audio-visual media. Visitors are taken through the colourful life and major achievements of Lichfield's most famous son, from troubled childhood, through literary obscurity and financial poverty, to world renown and success. The collection includes prints, paintings, sculpture - including a carved figure of Johnson by Denis Parsons, furniture, manuscripts and books: including many early and rare editions of Johnson's work. The book collection has largely been obtained through two major donations, now housed in the libraries named after their donors: the Hay Hunter and Blum Libraries, and the Wood library contains a further 2,000 volumes. Personal items include Johnson's armchair, tea set, breakfast table and portable writing desk, David Garrick's walking stick and a bookcase belonging to James Boswell.^[2]

In media

The museum was featured in the fifth episode of the BBC documentary Seven Ages of Britain, where David Dimbleby visited the museum to read extracts from Johnson's dictionary.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ ^a ^b ^c English Heritage: Images of England, retrieved 6 February 2011
^ ^a ^b ^c The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum website, retrieved 6 February 2011
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Clayton, Howard (1971), Coaching City: Glimpse of Georgian Lichfield, Dragon Books, ISBN 978-0-902816-05-3
^ Boswell, James (1799), Boswell's Life of Johnson, retrieved 6 February 2011
^ ^a ^b Clayton, Howard (1992), Mr. Lomax's Lichfield: A Collection of Illustrations of the City of Lichfield from 1800 to 1870, Abbotsford Publishing, ISBN 978-0-9503563-3-4
^ ^a ^b ^c Greenslade, M.W. (1990), A History of the County of Stafford: Volume XIV: Lichfield, Victoria County History, ISBN 978-0-19-722778-7

External links

The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum

[eh-1] English Heritage: Images of England, retrieved 6 February 2011

[sjb-2] The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum website, retrieved 6 February 2011

[clayt-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Clayton, Howard (1971), Coaching City: Glimpse of Georgian Lichfield, Dragon Books, ISBN 978-0-902816-05-3

[gb-4] Boswell, James (1799), Boswell's Life of Johnson, retrieved 6 February 2011

[clayto-5] Clayton, Howard (1992), Mr. Lomax's Lichfield: A Collection of Illustrations of the City of Lichfield from 1800 to 1870, Abbotsford Publishing, ISBN 978-0-9503563-3-4

[staf-6] Greenslade, M.W. (1990), A History of the County of Stafford: Volume XIV: Lichfield, Victoria County History, ISBN 978-0-19-722778-7

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Distinguish|Dr Johnson's House}}
-{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2013}}
 {{Use British English|date=August 2013}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
 {{Infobox museum
 | name             = Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum
@@ Line 12: / Line 13: @@
 | map_caption      =
 | map_alt          =
-| latitude         = 52.683481
+| coordinates      = {{coord|52.683481|-1.827886|display=inline,title}}
-| longitude        = -1.827886
-| coordinates_type =
 | established      = 1707 (House)
 (Museum)
@@ Line 30: / Line 29: @@
 }}
-'''Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum''' is a biographical museum and bookshop located in the centre of the city of [[Lichfield]], [[Staffordshire]], in England. The building is a [[Listed building|Grade I listed building]] situated at the corner of Market Street and Breadmarket Street opposite the market square.<ref name=eh>{{Citation | url = http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=382614 | title = English Heritage: Images of England| accessdate = 6 February 2011| publisher = }}</ref>
+'''Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum''' is a biographical museum and bookshop located in the centre of the city of [[Lichfield]], [[Staffordshire]], in England. The building is a [[Listed building|Grade I listed building]] situated at the corner of Market Street and Breadmarket Street opposite the market square.<ref name=eh>{{Citation | url = https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1292492 | title = English Heritage: Images of England| access-date = 6 February 2011}}</ref>
-The museum opened in 1901 and is dedicated to the life and works of the author and [[Lexicography|lexicographer]] [[Samuel Johnson]] who wrote the first authoritative ''[[A Dictionary of the English Language|Dictionary of the English Language]]''. Johnson's father built the house in 1707 and Samuel was born in the house on 18 September 1709 and spent the majority of his first 27 years in the house before leaving for London in 1737.<ref name=sjb/> The house was used as a commercial property for various trades between the time of Johnson's death in 1784 until the house was bought for the city by John Gilbert in 1900 for the purpose of retaining the building as a museum to Johnson. The house remains in active use as a museum to the present day, celebrating its 110 year anniversary in 2011.
+The museum opened in 1901 and is dedicated to the life and works of the author and [[Lexicography|lexicographer]] [[Samuel Johnson]] who wrote the first authoritative ''[[A Dictionary of the English Language|Dictionary of the English Language]]''. Johnson's father built the house in 1707 and Samuel was born in the house on 18 September 1709 and spent the majority of his first 27 years in the house before leaving for London in 1737.<ref name=sjb/> The house was used as a commercial property for various trades between the time of Johnson's death in 1784 until the house was bought for the city by John Gilbert in 1900 for the purpose of retaining the building as a museum to Johnson. The house remains in active use as a museum.
 ==Architecture==
-The house was built on the corner of Breadmarket Street and Market Street in 1707 by Johnson's father, Michael. The house is built of timber frame and brick infill<ref name=eh/> in a [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] style with four storeys, the top storey being lit with dormer windows which were removed in the 18th century and restored in the 1970s.<ref name=clayt>{{Citation | last =Clayton | first =Howard | authorlink = | title =Coaching City: Glimpse of Georgian Lichfield|edition= | publisher = Dragon Books| year =1971 | location = | page =| isbn =978-0-902816-05-3  }}</ref> The front of the house faces onto the Market Square and on this side the upper storeys are jettied outwards over the ground floor.<ref name=clayt/> As built this projecting front was supported at each end by a plain pillar, these continued upwards on the corners of the upper storeys by [[pilaster]]s of the Ionic order.<ref name=clayt/> The facing of the house was red brown brick and the roof tiles were blue black. In the 18th century two central pillars were added and one was removed in the late 19th century. In the 19th century the pilasters were removed and the outside was [[stucco]]ed.<ref name=clayt/>
+The house was built on the corner of Breadmarket Street and Market Street in 1707 by Johnson's father, Michael. The house is built of [[timber frame]] and brick infill, now covered in stucco.<ref name=eh/> It is in a [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] style with four storeys, the top storey being lit with dormer windows which were removed in the 18th century and restored in the 1970s.<ref name=clayt>{{Citation | last =Clayton | first =Howard | title =Coaching City: Glimpse of Georgian Lichfield| publisher = Dragon Books| year =1971 | isbn =978-0-902816-05-3  }}</ref> The front of the house faces onto the Market Square and on this side the upper storeys are [[Jettying|jettied]] outwards over the ground floor.<ref name=clayt/> As built this projecting front was supported at each end by a plain pillar, these continued upwards on the corners of the upper storeys by [[pilaster]]s of the Ionic order.<ref name=clayt/> The facing of the house was red brown brick and the roof tiles were blue black. In the 18th century two central pillars were added and one was removed in the late 19th century. In the 19th century the pilasters were removed and the outside was [[stucco]]ed.<ref name=clayt/>
 ==History==
-[[File:Breadmarket Street.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Johnsons house in 1831]]
+[[File:Breadmarket Street.jpg|thumb|200px|Johnson's house in 1831]]
+[[File:Sketch of the house in which Johnson was born in Lichfield by Ambrose Macdonald Poynter.jpg|thumb|left|Sketch of the house by [[Ambrose Macdonald Poynter]] (1890)]]
-'''Pre-Museum'''
+===Pre-museum===
-The house was built in 1707 by Michael Johnson and served him as a bookshop and residence.<ref name=clayt/> On 18 September 1709 Samuel Johnson was born at the house and spent much of his early life in the house before leaving for London with [[David Garrick]] on 2 March 1737 at the age of 27.<ref name=sjb>{{Citation | url = http://www.samueljohnsonbirthplace.org.uk/ | title = The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum website| accessdate = 6 February 2011| publisher = }}</ref> The house continued to be occupied by Johnson's mother Sarah after his departure. On 31 January 1739, Johnson and his mother mortgaged the family home to Lichfield town clerk [[Theophilus Levett]], a longtime friend of the family, for £80. The debt was the subject of correspondence between Johnson and Levett, as well as Theophilus Levett's son John, for some years. Ultimately, Johnson paid off the outstanding mortgage in full. After the death of Johnson's mother in 1759, Johnson asked his step-daughter Lucy Porter and his parents servant Catherine Chambers to keep the house and continue running the business.<ref name=gb>{{Citation | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=JOseAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA393&dq=when+did+samuel+johnsons+mother+die&hl=en&ei=Ko1STaeFNYSDhQfu6Ni5CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAg#v=snippet&q=house&f=false | title = Boswell's Life of Johnson| accessdate = 6 February 2011| publisher = }}</ref>
+The house was built in 1707 by Michael Johnson and served him as a bookshop and residence.<ref name=clayt/> On 18 September 1709 Samuel Johnson was born at the house and spent much of his early life in the house before leaving for London with [[David Garrick]] on 2 March 1737 at the age of 27.<ref name=sjb>{{Citation | url = http://www.samueljohnsonbirthplace.org.uk/ | title = The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum website| access-date = 6 February 2011}}</ref> The house continued to be occupied by Johnson's mother Sarah after his departure. On 31 January 1739, Johnson and his mother mortgaged the family home to Lichfield town clerk [[Theophilus Levett]], a longtime friend of the family, for £80. The debt was the subject of correspondence between Johnson and Levett, as well as Levett's son John, for some years. Ultimately, Johnson paid off the outstanding mortgage in full. After the death of Johnson's mother in 1759, Johnson asked his stepdaughter Lucy Porter and his parents' servant Catherine Chambers to keep the house and continue running the business.<ref name=gb>{{Citation | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JOseAAAAMAAJ&q=house&pg=PA393 | title = Boswell's Life of Johnson| access-date = 6 February 2011| last1 = Boswell| first1 = James| year = 1799}}</ref>
-It is not known when the Johnsons gave up ownership of the house, it may have remained in Johnson's ownership until his death in 1784. As a year after his death in 1785 the house was sold for £235 at an auction in the Swan Inn.<ref name=clayto>{{Citation | last =Clayton | first =Howard | authorlink = | title =Mr. Lomax's Lichfield: A Collection of Illustrations of the City of Lichfield from 1800 to 1870|edition= | publisher = Abbotsford Publishing| year =1992 | location = | page =| isbn =978-0-9503563-3-4}}</ref> The buyer was bookseller Major Morgan who continued the use of the building as a bookshop.<ref name=clayto/> From 1817 to 1835 the house was the newspaper office of the Lichfield Mercury.<ref name=clayt/> It is thought it then lay empty for a number of years occasionally being used as a grocer, dentists and ironmongers before the premises were bought in 1887 by James Johnson of Stockport in order to preserve the house in which Dr. Johnson was born. Under James Johnson's will the house was sold to the city in 1900, the money being given by John Gilbert, and on 27 May 1901 a museum devoted to the life and works of Samuel Johnson was opened.<ref name=staf>{{Citation | last =Greenslade | first =M.W. | authorlink = | title =A History of the County of Stafford: Volume XIV: Lichfield|edition= | publisher = Victoria County History| year =1990 | location = | page = | isbn =978-0-19-722778-7  }}</ref>
+It is not known when the Johnsons gave up ownership of the house, it may have remained in Johnson's ownership until his death in 1784. As a year after his death in 1785 the house was sold for £235 at an auction in the Swan Inn.<ref name=clayto>{{Citation | last =Clayton | first =Howard | title =Mr. Lomax's Lichfield: A Collection of Illustrations of the City of Lichfield from 1800 to 1870| publisher = Abbotsford Publishing| year =1992 | isbn =978-0-9503563-3-4}}</ref> The buyer was bookseller Major Morgan who continued the use of the building as a bookshop.<ref name=clayto/> From 1817 to 1835 the house was the newspaper office of the ''[[Lichfield Mercury]]''.<ref name=clayt/> It is thought it then lay empty for a number of years occasionally being used as a grocer, dentists and ironmongers before the premises were bought in 1887 by James Johnson of Stockport in order to preserve the house in which Dr Johnson was born. Under James Johnson's will the house was sold to the city in 1900, the money being given by John Gilbert, and on 27 May 1901 a museum devoted to the life and works of Samuel Johnson was opened.<ref name=staf>{{Citation | last =Greenslade | first =M.W. | title =A History of the County of Stafford: Volume XIV: Lichfield| publisher = Victoria County History| year =1990 | isbn =978-0-19-722778-7  }}</ref>
-'''Museum'''
+===Museum===
-The museum was opened in 1901 and contains an extensive library of manuscripts and books, including over 1,000 books collected by the Revd. Dr. Peter Hay Hunter of Edinburgh and given by his widow in 1911.<ref name=staf/> The museum was run by the city council until 1974, when its management was transferred to a trust. In 1982 the restored city council regained control. The museum is the headquarters of the Johnson Society, founded in 1910.<ref name=staf/> A bookshop part of the museum that faces onto Market Street was opened in 1990.<ref name=eh/> The museum currently contains a varied mix of displays, reconstructed rooms and audio-visual media. Visitors are taken through the colourful life and major achievements of Lichfield's most famous son, from troubled childhood, through literary obscurity and financial poverty, to world renown and success. The collection includes prints and paintings, furniture, manuscripts and books: including many early and rare editions of Johnson's work. The book collection has largely been obtained through three major donations, now housed in the libraries named after their donors: the Hay Hunter, Wood and Blum Libraries. Personal items include Johnson's armchair, tea set, breakfast table and portable writing desk, [[David Garrick|David Garrick's]] walking stick and a bookcase belonging to [[James Boswell]].<ref name=sjb/>
+The museum was opened in 1901 and contains an extensive library of manuscripts and books, including over 1,000 books collected by the Rev.d Dr Peter Hay Hunter of Edinburgh and given by his widow in 1911.<ref name=staf/> The museum was run by the city council until 1974, when its management was transferred to the Dr Johnson Birthplace Trust. The restored city council have been the trustee since 1982. The museum also serves as a postal address for the Johnson Society, founded in 1910.<ref name=staf/> The entrance to the bookshop part of the museum that faces onto Market Street was restored in 1990.<ref name=eh/>
-==In Media==
+The museum currently contains a varied mix of displays, reconstructed rooms and audio-visual media. Visitors are taken through the colourful life and major achievements of Lichfield's most famous son, from troubled childhood, through literary obscurity and financial poverty, to world renown and success. The collection includes prints, paintings, sculpture - including a carved figure of Johnson by [[Denis Alva Parsons|Denis Parsons]], furniture, manuscripts and books: including many early and rare editions of Johnson's work. The book collection has largely been obtained through two major donations, now housed in the libraries named after their donors: the Hay Hunter and Blum Libraries, and the Wood library contains a further 2,000 volumes. Personal items include Johnson's armchair, tea set, breakfast table and portable writing desk, [[David Garrick]]'s walking stick and a bookcase belonging to [[James Boswell]].<ref name=sjb/>
-The museum was featured in the fifth episode of the [[BBC]] documentary [[Seven Ages of Britain (BBC series)|Seven Ages of Britain]], where [[David Dimbleby]] visited the museum to read extracts from Johnson's dictionary.
-==See also==
+==In media==
+The museum was featured in the fifth episode of the [[BBC]] documentary [[Seven Ages of Britain (BBC series)|''Seven Ages of Britain'']], where [[David Dimbleby]] visited the museum to read extracts from Johnson's dictionary.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}
+==See also==
+*[[Grade I listed buildings in Staffordshire]]
+*[[Listed buildings in Lichfield]]
 *[[Samuel Johnson]]
 *[[Early life of Samuel Johnson]]
-*[[Dr. Johnson's House]]
+*[[Dr Johnson's House]] in London; he lived and worked in the house from 1748 to 1759
 ==References==
@@ Line 67: / Line 71: @@
 *[http://www.samueljohnsonbirthplace.org.uk// The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum]
+{{Samuel Johnson}}
-[[Category:Lichfield]]
+{{City of Lichfield}}
+{{Authority control}}
+[[Category:Buildings and structures in Lichfield]]
 [[Category:Museums in Staffordshire]]
-[[Category:Grade I listed houses]]
+[[Category:Grade I listed houses in Staffordshire]]
-[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Staffordshire]]
+[[Category:Grade I listed museum buildings]]
 [[Category:Historic house museums in Staffordshire]]
+[[Category:Timber framed buildings in Staffordshire]]
 [[Category:Literary museums in England]]
 [[Category:1901 establishments in England]]
+[[Category:Biographical museums in Staffordshire]]
+[[Category:Birthplaces of individual people|Johnson, Samuel]]
+[[Category:Samuel Johnson]]

v t e Samuel Johnson
Life and topics	Birthplace, home, and museum Early life Health Edial Hall School Dr Johnson's House The Club Literary criticism Political views Religious views Samuel Johnson Prize
People	Francis Barber James Boswell David Garrick John Hawkins Arthur Murphy Elizabeth Johnson (wife) Henry Thrale Hester Thrale Anna Williams Hodge
Essays and periodicals	Birmingham Journal The Gentleman's Magazine The Idler The Rambler Taxation no Tyranny
Biography and criticism	Life of Mr Richard Savage Lives of the Poets Miscellaneous Observations on the Tragedy of Macbeth The Plays of William Shakespeare Proposals for an Edition of Shakespeare Preface to Shakespeare
Miscellaneous prose	A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland A Dictionary of the English Language Letter to Chesterfield
Fiction and poetry	Messiah translation London Irene The Vanity of Human Wishes The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia
Contemporary accounts	James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson James Boswell's The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides John Hawkins' Life of Samuel Johnson Arthur Murphy's Essay on the Life and Genius of Samuel Johnson Hester Thrale's Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson Thraliana Thomas Tyer's A Biographical Sketch of Dr Samuel Johnson
Portraits	Blinking Sam
Category

v t e City of Lichfield, England
Notable buildings	Bishop's Palace Hospital of St John Baptist without the Barrs Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Clock Tower
Churches	Christ Church Church of St Chad St Mary's Church St Michael on Greenhill
Railway stations	Lichfield City Lichfield Trent Valley
Schools	The Friary School King Edward VI School Lichfield Cathedral School Nether Stowe School
Museums	Lichfield Museum Erasmus Darwin House Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum
Theatres	Garrick Theatre
Parks and open spaces	Beacon Park