Lives of the Poets, Volume 1

by Samuel Johnson

"Lives of the Poets, Volume 1" by Samuel Johnson is a collection of biographies written between 1779-81. This landmark work presents short biographies and critical appraisals of 52 English poets, most from the eighteenth century. Commissioned by London publishers to compete with Scottish editions, Johnson crafted portraits that blend life narratives with character assessments and literary criticism. His judgments sparked immediate controversy—praised for compelling prose yet criticized for prejudiced opinions on Milton, Swift, and the Metaphysical poets, while conspicuously omitting women writers entirely.