Picture courtesy of Michael Reed of thecemeteryproject.com
Samuel Johnson
 
Tercentenary 2009
 
line decor
 
line decor
 
 
 
 

   

Events

The Tercentenary celebrations in the UK will commence on 2 March 2009, the 272nd anniversary of the departure of Johnson and Garrick from Lichfield for London. A  modern-day Johnson and Garrick will re-enact their journey (complete with shared horse). They will be visiting a number of schools en route to talk about their walk and the lives of Johnson and Garrick. On arrival in London on Thursday 12th March, a reception will take place at the Guildhall.

The Tercentenary itself is on Friday, 18 September 2009. It will be marked by a weekend of events in his birthplace, Lichfield, including a dinner in Lichfield Guildhall on 19 September.

The year’s events will end with a commemoration at Westminster Abbey on 12 December 2009, the 225th anniversary of Johnson’s death.

Programme of events

Date

Event

Place

2 March 2009

Johnson and Garrick  (Professor Peter Martin and Dr Nicholas Cambridge) depart for London

Lichfield

12 March 2009

Reception for Johnson and Garrick

Guildhall, London

14 March 2009

Johnson Society of London Lecture
Professor Peter Martin

Wesley's Chapel, London
4 April 2009

Johnson Society of London Lecture
‘The present hour alone is man’s’: Johnson’s poetry and the redemption of time’
Dr Ken Smith

Wesley's Chapel, London
6 April 2009 'Dr Samuel Johnson - A Tercentenary Celebrated'
Dr David Allan, Honorary RSA Historian

Borough of Twickenham Local History Society
St Mary Church Hall, Church Street, Twickenham
18 April 2009

‘An Audience with Mrs Piozzi’ - Part 1
Lesley Smith

Lichfield Heritage Centre
25 April 2009 ‘An Audience with Mrs Piozzi’ - Part 2
Lesley Smith
Lichfield Heritage Centre
14 May 2009 Samuel Johnson Tercentenary Banquet (speakers: Lord Kenneth Baker and Professor Christopher Ricks) House of Lords
16 May 2009 Boswell Society lunch TBA, London
23 May-20 September 2009 Exhibition, "Samuel Johnson, Literary Giant of the Eighteenth Century, 1709-1784" Huntington Library, San Marino, CA
1 August 2009

Lecture: ‘The kingdom of Rasselas, then and now’
Jean and John Broadbent

Lichfield Guildhall
27-29 August 2009 Symposium and exhibition of Hyde Collection Houghton Library, Harvard

13-18 September 2009

'Johnson at 300'
Samuel Johnson Tercentenary Conference (convenors: Professor Lynda Mugglestone, Dr Freya Johnston)

Pembroke College, Oxford

18 September 2009 Tercentenary of the birth of Samuel Johnson  

18-20 September 2009

Birthday celebrations

Lichfield

10 October 2009 Johnson Society of London Lecture
‘Johnson and the Art of Human Happiness: The Case of Rasselas
Dr Thomas Woodman
Wesley's Chapel, London
21 October 2009 Symposium, "Samuel Johnson - from cradle to grave and beyond: his illnesses, physicians, autopsy and religious faith" Royal Society of Medicine
14 November 2009 Johnson Society of London Lecture Wesley's Chapel, London
21-22 November 2009

Samuel Johnson Tercentenary 2009 celebration (Samuel Johnson Society of Southern California)

Huntington Library, San Marino, CA

12 December 2009

Commemoration: wreath-laying and lunch
Speaker: Professor Christopher Ricks

Westminster Abbey and St Ermin’s Hotel, London

PDF Print the calendar of events (PDF, 61K).

More will be added as details become available. If you know of any event not in the calendar, please let us know at info@johnson2009.org