The Life of Samuel Johnson, vol 1 | Page 9

publication more than seemed advisable, and their length might have
rendered the volumes bulky beyond all reason. A more favourable
opportunity may come. I have in hand a Selection of the Wit and
Wisdom of Dr. Johnson. I purpose, moreover, to collect and edit all of
his letters that are not in the Life. Some hundreds of these were
published by Mrs. Piozzi; many more are contained in Mr. Croker's
edition; while others have already appeared in Notes and Queries[47].
Not a few, doubtless, are still lurking in the desks of the collectors of
autographs. As a letter-writer Johnson stands very high. While the
correspondence of David Garrick has been given to the world in two
large volumes, it is not right that the letters of his far greater friend
should be left scattered and almost neglected. 'He that sees before him
to his third dinner,' says Johnson, 'has a long prospect[48].' My
prospect is still longer; for, if health be spared, and a fair degree of
public favour shown, I see before me to my third book. When I have
published my Letters, I hope to enter upon a still more arduous task in
editing the Lives of the Poets.
In my work I have received much kind assistance, not only from friends,
but also from strangers to whom I had applied in cases where special
knowledge could alone throw light on some obscure point. My

acknowledgments I have in most instances made in my notes. In some
cases, either through want of opportunity or forgetfulness, this has not
been done. I gladly avail myself of the present opportunity to remedy
this deficiency. The Earl of Crawford and Balcarres I have to thank for
so liberally allowing the original of the famous Round Robin, which is
in his Lordship's possession, to be reproduced by a photographic
process for this edition. It is by the kindness of Mr. J.L.G. Mowat,
M.A., Fellow and Bursar of Pembroke College, Oxford, that I have
been able to make a careful examination of the Johnsonian manuscripts
in which our college is so rich. If the vigilance with which he keeps
guard over these treasures while they are being inspected is continued
by his successors in office, the college will never have to mourn over
the loss of a single leaf. To the Rev. W.D. Macray, M.A., of the
manuscript department of the Bodleian, to Mr. Falconer Madan, M.A.,
Sub-Librarian of the same Library, and to Mr. George Parker, one of
the Assistants, I am indebted for the kindness with which they have
helped me in my inquiries. To Mr. W.H. Allnutt, another of the
Assistants, I owe still more. When I was abroad, I too frequently, I fear,
troubled him with questions which no one could have answered who
was not well versed in bibliographical lore. It was not often that his
acuteness was baffled, while his kindness was never exhausted. My old
friend Mr. E.J. Payne, M.A., Fellow of University College, Oxford, the
learned editor of the Select Works of Burke published by the Clarendon
Press, has allowed me, whenever I pleased, to draw on his extensive
knowledge of the history and the literature of the eighteenth century.
Mr. C.G. Crump, B.A., of Balliol College, Oxford, has traced for me
not a few of the quotations which had baffled my search. To Mr. G.K.
Fortescue, Superintendent of the Reading Room of the British Museum,
my most grateful acknowledgments are due. His accurate and extensive
knowledge of books and his unfailing courtesy and kindness have
lightened many a day's heavy work in the spacious room over which he
so worthily presides. But most of all am I indebted to Mr. C.E. Doble,
M.A., of the Clarendon Press. He has read all my proof-sheets, and by
his almost unrivalled knowledge of the men of letters of the close of the
seventeenth and of the beginning of the eighteenth centuries, he has
saved my notes from some blunders and has enriched them with much
valuable information. In my absence abroad he has in more instances

than I care to think of consulted for me the Bodleian Library. It is some
relief to my conscience to know that the task was rendered lighter to
him by his intimate familiarity with its treasures, and by the deep love
for literature with which he is inspired.
There are other thanks due which I cannot here fittingly express. 'An
author partakes of the common condition of humanity; he is born and
married like another man; he has hopes and fears, expectations and
disappointments, griefs and joys like a courtier or a statesman[49].' In
the hopes and fears, in the expectations and disappointments, in the
griefs and joys--nay, in the very labours of his literary life, if his hearth
is not a solitary