H. P. Lovecraft
A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson
Published: 1917
Language: English
Estimated Reading Time: ~30 minutes hours
A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson is H. P. Lovecraft's satire about a man with more than two centuries of life and very little self-awareness.
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About the Manuscript
Humphry Littlewit claims to have known Pope, Swift and Addison. When Boswell introduces him to Johnson at the Mitre Tavern, Littlewit asks whether the Doctor has read his notice of the dictionary. The reply tells us more about Littlewit than any of his boasts.
Lovecraft writes A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson in the spellings and manners of an eighteenth-century memoir. The joke is less about living for two centuries than about mistaking famous acquaintances for accomplishments.