Lives of the English Poets - Samuel Johnson

Title: Lives of the English Poets
Author: Samuel Johnson
Publisher: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd
Format: Paperback
Edition: 1975 Everyman paperback, first published 1975
ISBN: 0460017705
Condition: Second-hand. Good. Covers show rubbing, creasing, surface marks, spotting and edge wear, with an old bookseller sticker to the rear cover and wear along the spine and corners. fist page price clipped. The binding is intact, with light age-related toning to the pages. Please see photos for the exact copy available.

Samuel Johnson’s Lives of the English Poets combines literary biography with vigorous criticism of major seventeenth- and eighteenth-century poets, including Milton, Dryden, Pope, Swift and others. This Everyman selection presents eleven central lives with an introduction by John Wain.

A landmark of English literary criticism, Johnson’s portraits remain valued for their sharp judgements, anecdotal detail and insight into the writers and literary culture of his age.