This is a history of an extraordinary group of 18th century Londoners who spent Friday evenings at the Turk's Head Tavern, where they became known as the Club. Adam Smith, Edward Gibbon, Richard Sheridan, David Garrick, Edmund Burke, Joshua Reynolds, James Boswell and Samuel Johnson were the cornerstones of the Club. However, it is Boswell, the young Scottish lawyer, and Johnson, a generation older and the compiler of the first dictionary, who are center stage in this tale for the simple reason that they were the most prolific writers. Johnson wrote eloquently and frequently and Boswell was his biographer. Johnson was born in Lichfield, the son of a bookseller. Johnson was unable to finish Oxford for financial reasons. He went to London to become a writer, and edited The 'Gentlemen's Magazine'. He worked for a decade on a Dictionary, which was published in 1755. It is considered a milestone, a masterpiece still recognized as a significant landmark centuries later. He became known as The Great Lexicographer. James Boswell came to London with the approval and financial support of his father, Lord Auchinleck, a noted lawyer and judge. Boswell was a writer, a drinker, and an inveterate note taker, whose journals provide a detailed insight into late 18th century London and which were immensely popular because of his frank and frequent recounting of his vigorous amatory adventures. In early 1764, Joshua Reynolds suggested to Johnson that they form a club of interesting friends who would meet once per week. Edmund Burke was invited as were half a dozen others. Sir Joshua Reynolds achieved considerable wealth as a portrait painter. He was the first president of the Royal Academy of the Arts. "Of all the members of the Club, Burke was the one who most impressively combined intellectual brilliance, literary skill, and public life." His 'Reflections on the Revolution in France' adeptly predicted the future and is considered a foundation of modern conservatism. The two most enduring publications from Club members came in 1776: 'The Wealth of Nations' and 'The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'. Smith and Gibbon are still part of many curriculums and are two writers whose works I have enjoyed. Long after the deaths of its founders, the Club continues today as the London Literary Society. I have never been a fan of group biographies and nothing here has changed my mind. Furthermore, there is not a single sentence in this book about conversations at, or meetings of, the Club.
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