Published in 1786,
Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnsonis a biography by the literary salonnière Hester Lynch Piozzi (1741-1821). Samuel Johnson (1709-84) was a friend of Piozzi’s first husband, Henry Thrale (1724-81). After they first met in 1765, he and Piozzi, then Hester Thrale, forged a strong companionship that outlasted her first husband’s death. Until Piozzi’s remarriage to the musician Gabriel Piozzi in 1784, which occasioned their dramatic estrangement, Johnson resided for long stretches at the Thrale family home, Streatham Park.
Anecdotesis thus primarily a record of the time Johnson spent with the Thrales. Though less well known than other contemporary biographies of Johnson, most obviously James Boswell’s
Life of Samuel Johnson(1791), Piozzi’s
Anecdotesprovide…
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Citation: Stanbridge, Emma. "Anecdotes of the late Samuel Johnson, LL.D. during the last twenty years of his life". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 June 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=40669, accessed 21 November 2024.]
