Erection date: 6/8/1910
{On the front of the pedestal:}
Samuel Johnson LLD, critic, essayist, philologist, biographer, wit, poet, moralist, dramatist, political writer, talker. Born 1709, died 1784.
The gift and handiwork of Percy Fitzgerald, FSA and erected by the Revd. S. Pennington, MA, Rector of St. Clement Danes, 1910.
{Around the pedestal there are 3 large bronze reliefs:
- on front - Boswell's head in profile, inscribed "Boswell"
- on left hand side - Johnson with Mrs Thrale, inscribed "Mrs Thrale"
- on right hand side - Johnson with Boswell, in the Highlands}
This bronze statue is placed close to St Clement Dane's church, the one that Johnson attended. Reverend Pennington, the rector at St Clements, was the donor of the statue. He died just as the statue was ready so it was thought appropriate to unveil the work as the body was conveyed into the church for the lying in state.
Fitzgerald, the sculptor, modelled the face on the portrait by Reynolds and Nolleken's bust. Fitzgerald also unveiled the statue when the death of Edward VII caused the planned royal unveiling by his daughter, Princess Louise, to be cancelled.
The statue and the 3 bronze reliefs are, putting it charitably, modelled in a very rough style.
Site: Johnson, Reader & others (4 memorials)
WC2, Fleet Street
This small area contain 4 memorials: a statue, a bench a well and a large plaque.
Credit for this entry to: Bob Baker
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