Johnson and His Books

Photograph

James Christie. A Catalogue of the Valuable Library of Books of the Late Learned Samuel Johnson, Esq. LL.D. Deceased. [London: s.n., 1785]. *2003J-SJ1173b

The sale of Johnson's library packed the auction house of James Christie (founder of the firm which today bears his name) in February 1785, three months after his death. This copy of the catalogue belonged to Johnson's friend, the noted translator of Italian literature, John Hoole (1727-1803). We know from the annotations in another copy held at Houghton Library that Hoole bought several lots at the sale, including Johnson's copy of Giuseppe Barettiā€™s Italian-English dictionary.