...circumstance, which Johnson himself had forgot. His Majesty expressed a desire to have the literary biography of this country ably executed, and proposed...tone which is commonly used at the levee and in the drawing room. After the King withdrew, Johnson shewed himself highly pleased with his Majesty's conversation,...

...only to return to it at the end of the conversation when he "expressed a desire to have the literary biography of this country ably executed, and proposed to Dr. Johnson to undertake it."5 The setting, the action, and the parts played out in this library scene were shaped by a multitude...

...in the library, the king relinquished the authority he exercised in other social spaces, so that Dr. Johnson "talked to his majesty with profound respect,...tone which is commonly used at the levee and in the drawing room." In this new domain of writers and their fabrications, it is the king who intrudes and...

...talked for some minutes, the king asking about various authors and periodicals and praising Johnson. "During the whole of this interview, Johnson talked...commonly used at the levee and in the drawing-room." Afterwards he styled the king "the finest gentleman I have ever seen." Yet he also insisted, "it was...

...readily complied. During this interview the doctor talked with profound respect, but still in his firm manner, with a sonorous voice, and never in that subdued tone which is common at the levee and the drawingroom. Afterwards he observed to Mr. Barnard, the librarian, " Sir,...

...readily complied. During this interview the doctor talked with profound respect, but still in his firm manner, with a sonorous voice, and never in that subdued tone which i« common ¡it the levee and the AniwinQroom. Afterwards he observed ч> Mr. Barnard, the librarian,...