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Johnson Samuel Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
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Samuel Johnson Trivia

Samuel Johnson Trivia Quizzes

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2 Samuel Johnson quizzes and 25 Samuel Johnson trivia questions.
1.
  The Life Of Samuel Johnson   top quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
I've always been an admirer of Samuel Johnson, both as a man and as a writer. If you share my tastes, can you answer the following questions on his life?
Tough, 10 Qns, TabbyTom, Mar 25 03
Tough
TabbyTom
562 plays
2.
  Johnsonia    
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
Possibly the largest (in more than one sense) English 18th century writer, Samuel Johnson's imprint is still visible today. Here are some notable facts and phrases. Enjoy!
Tough, 15 Qns, manishma, Jul 22 10
Tough
manishma
269 plays
trivia question Quick Question
What was Johnson's house servant Francis Barber originally?

From Quiz "Johnsonia"





Samuel Johnson Trivia Questions
1. In 1765 Johnson met the Thrales and became a frequent house guest. What was Henry Thrale's occupation?

From Quiz Johnsonia

Answer: Brewer

Henry Thrale owned the Anchor Brewhouse, at one time the third largest beer company in England, but in 1772 almost went bankrupt. He was a Member of Parliament for Southwark from 1765 to 1780 and also became an Alderman and a Sheriff of London.

2. In which cathedral city was Johnson born on September 18, 1709?

From Quiz The Life Of Samuel Johnson

Answer: Lichfield

Johnson seems to have retained an affection for his home town. There are at least two references to it in his Dictionary.

3. As a 2-year-old child Johnson was brought to London to be touched by the monarch, in the hope that the touch would cure him of scrofula. Who was the monarch?

From Quiz The Life Of Samuel Johnson

Answer: Queen Anne

Scrofula was known as the 'King's Evil'. The belief that it could be cured by the royal touch goes back at least as far as the reign of Edward the Confessor. Anne was the last sovereign to 'touch for the evil'. In Johnson's case, the cure didn't work.

4. On being asked whether he reckoned Derrick or Smart the best poet, Johnson replied: "Sir, there's no settling the point of precedency between __."

From Quiz Johnsonia

Answer: A louse and a flea

Christopher Smart and Samuel Derrick were minor contemporary poets. Although Johnson liked Derrick, who was Master of Ceremonies at Bath, he mockingly called him King of Bath, adding "Had he not been a writer, he must have been sweeping the crossings in the streets, and asking halfpence from everybody that past." Smart didn't live up to his name and ended up in a mad house. Of him Johnson said, "Madness frequently discovers itself merely by unnecessary deviation from the usual modes of the world. My poor friend Smart showed the disturbance of his mind, by falling upon his knees, and saying his prayers in the street..."

5. Johnson's college days were cut short by poverty, and he left without taking a degree. Which university did he attend?

From Quiz The Life Of Samuel Johnson

Answer: Oxford

Johnson spent four terms at Pembroke College, Oxford before returning to Lichfield. By all accounts he was not an easy student to teach.

6. Early in his career Johnson was a Parliamentary reporter for the satirical Gentleman's Magazine. What were his reportings called?

From Quiz Johnsonia

Answer: Debates in the Senate of Lilliput

Since the press were not allowed to attend or report Parliamentary affairs, reporters had to make up most of the debates. Though they were being satirised, some MP's had become much more elegant than they ever were in real life, so they didn't object much. Nevertheless, as an ardent Tory Johnson made sure the 'Whig dogs' didn't get the best of it.

7. After an unsuccessful spell as a schoolmaster, Johnson left Lichfield for London. He was accompanied by a former pupil, who made a name for himself in the theatre. Who was this companion?

From Quiz The Life Of Samuel Johnson

Answer: David Garrick

In later life Johnson and Garrick liked to recount the tale of their journey, but probably exaggerated their hardships. Johnson's reported statement that they arrived in London with fourpence between them is almost certainly false.

8. Who or what was the first Whig according to Samuel Johnson?

From Quiz Johnsonia

Answer: The devil

Johnson probably disliked all of them, stockjobbers/brokers for making money without actually delivering a product or service, Cromwell for his reign of terror and Louis just for being French.

9. One of Johnson's first literary works was the satirical poem entitled 'London'. It is based on a satire about Rome by which Roman poet?

From Quiz The Life Of Samuel Johnson

Answer: Juvenal

Like Juvenal's Rome, Johnson's London is depicted as a city of squalor, violent crime, immorality, foreign influence and political corruption in which a decent man can't hope to make a living. But in time Johnson came to believe that 'when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life'.

10. Who was the nobleman and politician to whom Johnson dedicated the Plan for his Dictionary?

From Quiz The Life Of Samuel Johnson

Answer: The Earl of Chesterfield

The Earl took little interest in the project after it was launched, but commended it heartily when it was completed. Johnson's letter to Chesterfield, declining his lordship's belated support, is one of the greatest put-downs in the language.

11. Fill in the quote: "Human life is everywhere a state in which much is to be __ and little to be __."

From Quiz Johnsonia

Answer: endured/enjoyed

He could be a pessimist at times.

12. In January 1759 Johnson produced 'Rasselas', and asked for an advance of thirty pounds from his publisher. For what was this money needed?

From Quiz The Life Of Samuel Johnson

Answer: His mother's funeral

Sarah Johnson died in Lichfield at the age of ninety. Although Johnson had never showed any strong emotions towards his mother, he was devastated by her death.

13. Finish the quote: "A man of genius has been seldom ruined but by __."

From Quiz Johnsonia

Answer: himself

Johnson was not against making money in itself. For one thing it kept that ever lurking danger of idleness at bay. Nor was he such a mysogynist, despite the famous line: "Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all."

14. In 1777, Johnson played a leading part in an unsuccessful campaign to secure a reprieve for William Dodd, a clergyman who had been sentenced to death. What was Dodd's crime?

From Quiz The Life Of Samuel Johnson

Answer: Forgery

Dodd was a popular preacher and had been tutor to the fifth Earl of Chesterfield, the son of Johnson's patron. He ran into debt and forged Chesterfield's signature to a bond. The death sentence was not commuted, and on June 27, 1777 he was carted from Newgate Prison to Tyburn and publicly hanged.

15. Who did Johnson get released from debtor's prison by selling the rights of his book (for which he was thrown in there in the first place)?

From Quiz Johnsonia

Answer: Oliver Goldsmith

Many authors at one time or another faced debtor's prison. Johnson, himself bailed out in 1756 by Samuel Richardson, sold the rights of Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield" to get Goldsmith out. Daniel Defoe was such a failure in business that he went bankrupt and was thrown into debtor's prison. The publication of "Joseph Andrews" kept Henry Fielding out of debtor's prison, though his father died in one.

16. At dinner on April 15, 1778, Johnson declared 'I am ready to love all mankind, except ________________'. Complete his sentence.

From Quiz The Life Of Samuel Johnson

Answer: an American

Johnson expressed his views on 'the ridiculous claims of American usurpation' in his usual forthright way. They can be found in 'The Patriot' and 'Taxation No Tyranny', published in 1774 and 1775.

17. Which Victorian historian called Boswell's "Life of Johnson" a masterpiece but dismissed the master as a reactionary?

From Quiz Johnsonia

Answer: Thomas Macaulay

Macaulay's 1831 review of a new edition of James Boswell's "Life of Johnson" had great influence on how Johnson was viewed - in fact, says Jack Lynch, "to this day, Johnsonian scholars are fighting to undo some of the damage inflicted." Carlyle extolled Johnson in his "Heroes and Hero Worship," approvingly quoting him: "No sadder proof can be given by a man of his own littleness than disbelief in great men." Gibbon, author of "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" was a member of Dr Johnson's Club, albeit not a very popular one. Scott, finally, was more into "Gothic" novels than late-Augustan writers.

18. Johnson had a cat, whom he described as 'a very fine cat indeed' and for whom he bought oysters. What was the cat's name?

From Quiz The Life Of Samuel Johnson

Answer: Hodge

As a cat-lover myself, I find Johnson's fondness for Hodge one of his most endearing traits. I wish Boswell had told us more about Hodge, and I'm grateful to Polygon for pointing out that there's more information about him at http://www.moggies.co.uk/stories/finecat.html

19. From childhood Johnson suffered from several physical afflictions. Which ailment was spared him?

From Quiz Johnsonia

Answer: cholera

Baby Sam had infected glands from being fed milk from a tuberculotic cow, causing blindness in his left eye, deafness in his right ear and scrofula. Consequently, Johnson derived little pleasure from music or theatre. For scrofula he was taken to London at the age three to be touched by the queen. This rather made things worse, for it literally scarred him for life, which could have been prevented with proper treatment. Besides all these, he also developed dropsy, gout, arthritis, gallstones, chronic indigestion and Tourette's syndrome. While he had much to complain about Johnson was also a hypochondriac.

20. When Boswell in one of their conversations mentions a man who believed there was no distinction between virtue and vice, Johnson retorts, "Why, Sir, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons." Who were they discussing?

From Quiz Johnsonia

Answer: David Hume

Hume was one of Johnson's betes noires. Johnson especially found his atheism horrifying. At Oxford Johnson read and was impressed by Mandeville's Fable of the Bees, in which the author argues that what are commonly considered virtues are in fact disguised vices. Wilkes, a libertine and champion of liberty of Whig persuasion, and Johnson were considered arch-enemies. This seems an overstatement; Boswell had even arranged two meetings between them, which apparently were very enjoyable. Swift's cynicism and downright misanthropy were objectionable to our hero.

21. What was Johnson's house servant Francis Barber originally?

From Quiz Johnsonia

Answer: A slave

Francis was born a slave in Jamaica. He became Johnson's manservant in 1752 and lived with his wife Elizabeth at Johnson's house in Bolt Court untilk his master's death in 1784. Johnson apparently disliked being waited on and is said to have treated Francis as his son, sending him to grammar school and eventually making him an heir.

22. In the allegoric "History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia" (1759) the astronomer believes he can __.

From Quiz Johnsonia

Answer: control the weather

The astronomer believes that long study has given him the power to control wind and rain. "The sun has listened to my dictates, and passed, from tropick to tropick, by my direction; the clouds, at my call have poured their waters." Rasselas manages to cure him from these delusions.

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