His first literary hit was made with a poem, _London_, and this was followed by the _Life of Richard Savage_, in which he told of the miseries of the writer without regular employment. Next followed his finest poem, _The Vanity of Human Wishes_. Then Johnson started a weekly paper, _The Rambler_, in imitation of _The Spectator_, and ran it regularly for about two years. For some time Johnson had been considering the publication of a dictionary of the English language. He issued his prospectus in 1747 and inscribed the work to Lord Chesterfield. He did not secure any help from the noble lord, and when Chesterfield showed some interest in the work seven years after, Johnson wrote an open letter to the nobleman, which is one of the masterpieces of English satire. In 1762 Johnson accepted a Government pension of L300 a year, and after that he lived in comparative comfort. The best literary work of his later years was his _Lives of the Poets_, which extended to ten volumes. Johnson was not an accurate scholar, nor was he a graceful writer, like Goldsmith; but he had a force of mind and a vigor of language that made him the greatest talker of his day. He was one of the founders of a literary club in 1764 which numbered among its members Gibbon, Burke, Goldsmith, Sir Joshua Reynolds and other famous men of genius. Though he was unpolished in manners, ill dressed and uncouth, Johnson was easily the leader in the debates of this club, and he remained its dominating force until the day of his death. [Illustration (with text): THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. COMPREHENDING AN ACCOUNT OF HIS STUDIES AND NUMEROUS WORKS, IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER; A SERIES OF HIS EPISTOLARY CORRESPONDENCE AND CONVERSATIONS WITH MANY EMINENT PERSONS, AND VARIOUS ORIGINAL PIECES OF HIS COMPOSITION, NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED. THE WHOLE EXHIBITING A VIEW OF LITERATURE AND LITERARY MEN IN GREAT-BRITAIN, FOR NEAR HALF A CENTURY, DURING WHICH HE FLOURISHED. IN TWO VOLUMES. BY JAMES BOSWELL, Esq. ----Quo fit ut OMNIS Votiva pateat veluti descripta tabella VITA SENIS.---- HORAT. VOLUME THE FIRST. _LONDON:_ PRINTED BY HENRY BALDWIN, FOR CHARLES DILLY, IN THE POULTRY. M DCC XCI FACSIMILE OF THE TITLE PAGE OF THE FIRST EDITION OF BOSWELL'S "LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON"--THIS HAS PROVED TO BE THE MOST POPULAR BIOGRAPHY IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE]