Author

Samuel Johnson(1709–1784)

Samuel Johnson is documented in Fuller’s letters, published essays, journals, and manuscripts (1832–1846). 3 distinct works are named, most often in Letter to James F. Clarke, and the most intensive engagement recorded is “analyzed”.

Engagement: AnalyzedQuotedReadMentioned
Present in: Letters · Essays · Journals · Manuscripts
Documented: 1832–1846

Totals count documented engagements, once at the earliest witness. How we count →

Reprints, Memoirs passages, and repeat notes within a single manuscript are shown but never counted twice. Evidence for this author is selective, not exhaustive. Methodology →

In Fuller’s words

“Johnson speaks of it as 'that power which constitutes a poet, that power, without which judgment is cold, and knowledge is inert, that energy which collects, combines amplifies and animates.”

Lives of the English Poets · Journal April 1839 · 1839

When Fuller engaged with Samuel Johnson

I. Childhood

II. Adolescence

III. Self-Directed1record

IV. Transcendentalist1record

V. New York1record

VI. Europe2records

✦. Memoirs (1852)

1810

1820

1832

1836

1844

1846

1850

This page brings together documented engagements currently identified within the Fuller Reading Worlds catalog.

Johnson in Fuller’s reading world

Documentary evidence

Selected passages from Fuller’s own writings, in chronological order.

1832—

Letter to James F. Clarke

mentioned

“She is well and divides her time between hard piano practice and the study of Johnson and Mrs Chapone!”

Fuller, Margaret. The Letters of Margaret Fuller. Edited by Robert N. Hudspeth. Vol. VI. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1988.

Inferred Fuller reports that her friend Elizabeth Randall "divides her time between hard piano practice and the study of Johnson"; Hudspeth identified the specific Johnson work is unknown, marking this as third-party reading referenced by Fuller rather than her own.

1839—

Journal April 1839

p41

quoted · readManuscript page

“Johnson speaks of it as 'that power which constitutes a poet, that power, without which judgment is cold, and knowledge is inert, that energy which collects, combines amplifies and animates.”

Fuller, Margaret. "Journal April 1839." Houghton Library, Harvard University; bMS Am 1086 (Box A); Box 5 (99).

Inferred Fuller quotes Johnson's definition of poetic power/genius, attributing it to 'Johnson.' Title inferred as Lives of the English Poets (Life of Pope, 1781), the most likely source.

1845—

Books for the Holidays.

“Books for the Holidays.”

mentioned

“The thick book will, no doubt, become the “entertaining library” of the country farm-house and village inn, and take the place of the Spectator and Rambler”

Fuller, Margaret. "Books for the Holidays." New-York Daily Tribune, 22 December 1845. · 22 December 1845

1846—

‘Darkness Visible.’

“‘Darkness Visible.’”

mentioned

“We love an honest lover; but next best, we, with Dr. Johnson, know how to respect an honest hater.”

Also reprinted in Life Without and Life Within; or, Reviews, Narratives, Essays, and Poems. Counted once, at its first appearance.

Fuller, Margaret. "‘Darkness Visible.’." New-York Daily Tribune, 4 March 1846. · 4 March 1846

1846—

Wiley & Putnam’s Library.

“Wiley & Putnam’s Library.”

mentioned

“and the Happy Valley of the gentle cannibals compares very well with the best contrivances of the learned Dr. Johnson to produce similar impressions.”

Fuller, Margaret. "Wiley & Putnam’s Library." New-York Daily Tribune, 4 April 1846. · 4 April 1846

Undated

Pieces with no legible date. They are part of the record but cannot be placed on the lifeline.

n.d.—

On R.H. Dana's Lecture

analyzed · readManuscript page

“he repeats things current since the Schlegels and fights with Dr Johnson.”

Fuller, Margaret. "On R.H. Dana's Lecture." Boston Public Library Archives & Special Collections; MS Am. 1450; Box: 2, Folder: 85.

Inferred Fuller names 'Dr Johnson' as Dana's critical adversary in the context of a Shakespeare lecture — the natural referent is Samuel Johnson's “Preface to Shakespeare” (1765), the canonical neoclassical critique that post-Romantic critics reacted against. Fuller's remark that Dana 'fights with Dr Johnson' implies she knows Johnson's criticism well enough to recognize when others are engaged with it.