Tag: James Boswell
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The medspeak language: Modern Johnsonese?
George ChristopherMichigan, United States Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) was a prominent eighteenth-century writer whose compositions include literary reviews of the works of Shakespeare, Addison, Dryden, Milton, Pope, and other major authors; scathing commentaries on moral and political issues such as the institution of slavery and the mistreatment of indigenous Americans; brief biographies; poems; a tragic play;…
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Samuel Johnson: “The great convulsionary”
JMS PearceHull, England, United Kingdom This paper reproduces in an abridged form an earlier article by its author1 appraising the evidence that Samuel Johnson suffered from Tourette’s syndrome. Several authors have commented on the many eccentricities of Dr. Samuel Johnson (Fig 1).2 Thomas Tyers, for example, has written as follows: His gestures, which were a…
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Doctor Johnson and his ailments
Samuel Johnson, one of the greatest English literary figures of all time, is remembered more for what he said than for what he wrote. Other writers may have been more successful or more profound, but none had as great a biographer as James Boswell.1 Boswell was twenty-two years old when he was first introduced to…