Samuel Johnson (Dictionary of World Biography: The 17th and 18th Centuries)
Early Life
Samuel Johnson was born on September 18, 1709, in Lichfield; his father, Michael Johnson, was an unsuccessful bookseller. As an infant, Johnson contracted tuberculosis from a wet nurse and lost sight in one eye and hearing in one ear. His physical appearance was not appealing; one of Johnson’s aunt’s declared that she “would not have picked such a poor creature up in the street.” Johnson’s ill health and frightening appearance did not, however, prevent him from educating himself in the back room of his father’s bookshop. He did very well in his studies at...
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