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| 17 Gough Square |
|
In 1755, twenty years before Jane Austen was born, Samuel
Johnson’s
Dictionary was published.
According to its preface, this mammoth undertaking rescued the English language,
‘hitherto neglected’ from the corruption of ignorance, and caprices of
innovation’.
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| The parlour |
|
We know from Henry Austen’s
Biographical Notice of his sister that
Dr Johnson was Jane’s
favourite moral writer in prose.
Northanger
Abbey contains a well-known reference to Johnson and his
Dictionary: Henry Tilney’s joking
reproof to Catherine Morland.
When Catherine (not the brightest of Austen’s
heroines) discusses her favourite novel with her friend Eleanor Tilney and her
brother, she asks: ‘Do not you think Udolpho the nicest book in the world?’
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| The powdering closet in the parlour. |
Henry replies: ‘The nicest: by which I suppose you mean the
neatest. That must depend upon the binding’.
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| Johnson's chair from the Cock Tavern. |
‘Henry’, said Miss Tilney, ‘you
are very impertinent. Miss Morland…the word “nicest”, as you used it, did not
suit him; and you had better change it as soon as you can, or we shall be
overpowered with Johnson and Blair all the rest of the way’.
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| The first floor. | |
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| The author in 18th century dress. Without the heels! |
Like Jane Austen, I love Johnson’s wit and wisdom, and I was
thrilled when I finally got a chance to visit his house at
17 Gough Square. It’s
packed with memorabilia, portraits and prints, and a fabulous library of 18
th
century works. I even got a chance to dress up as an eighteenth-century lady! The
wig was very hot, I assure you.
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| The first floor. | |
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| Mrs Thrale's tea set. |
