Comments on: At Dr Johnson’s House

By: Gary Arber

Gary Arber — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 16:05:35 +0000

If Mr. Pussy was still with us he would have found the suggestion that he was from the lowest order very offensive.
Gary

By: debra matheney

debra matheney — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 15:54:55 +0000

Lovely way to start my day. Have visited a few times to bask in the aura of the great man. Years ago when I was a student, the staff directed me to a shop which only sold Dr. Johnson’s works. The owner was gracious enough to show me several editions of the dictionary, a real treat. Another fun place is his home in Lichfield. Makes me nostalgic for Britain.

Thanks for all the lovely posts and photos.

By: Steve szilagyi

Steve szilagyi — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 12:27:01 +0000

Thank you. This is everything I could have hoped for in a photographic tour of this hallowed place, up to and including Hodge.

By: Rosemary Antrobus

Rosemary Antrobus — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 11:49:27 +0000

Intellectual- a word that is little in use. Dr Johnson you are a one line poet!!!!!

By: Hilda Kean

Hilda Kean — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 11:33:50 +0000

The cat statue outside the home is not primarily a “domestick animal’. The cat, Hodge, lived with Johnson who called him “a very fine cat, a very fine cat indeed”. Johnson personally purchased oysters as he did not want servants to “take a dislike to the poor creature”. Johnson was known to oppose cruelty to animal including vivisection which he defined as perpetrated “by a race of men that have practised tortures without pity”.
Interestingly as a result of sculptor Jon Bickley although the cat exists outside the City of London has thought that the structure would encourage interest in the story of Dr Johnson and act as a focal point especially amongst the young…

By: Susan

Susan — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 11:15:06 +0000

Fantastic pics! The interior shots are superb-esp. the one of the dictionary! Thanks for taking us along with you!

By: Martin Tolley

Martin Tolley — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 11:02:24 +0000

This is a wonderful house to visit. I went there some years ago now. It is mercifully free of “stuff” (National Trust take note!) but has a tremendous atmosphere. Walking up the creaky stairs you can almost feel the presence of the great man around you, just preparing to come out of a room with pen in hand to say hello.

By: Maria

Maria — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 10:03:32 +0000

Thank you. What a beautiful home. I must visit next time I’m in London.

By: Bob Ball

Bob Ball — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 09:34:32 +0000

Dear GA – as a young lad in the 195os my old mum brought me to London to do “I Spy London.”
I remember very few of the items that all had questions. “What is missing from Boadiceas statue. (The reins). Then there was the porters rest near Hyde Park Corner and most memorably that every time I go up Fleet Street I am reminded of Dr Johnson’s House. In 1959.
It’s now on my list to visit and maybe find out what the question was years ago for Big Chief I Spy. A children’s book that gave me an enduring interest in London history.

By: Jim McDermott

Jim McDermott — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 09:18:29 +0000

When I worked in St Bride Lane in the mid-’80s I used to pop around the corner often to see Johnson’s house (hoping to temporarily flush away some of the foetor of tax accountancy). I don’t recall the carpet and walls clashing so badly in that upstairs room, so I assume one or the other has been changed in the past three decades. Mrs Johnson – what were you thinking?