Samuel Johnson (1709-84), poet, essayist, writer, lexicographer. Born in Lichfield and educated at the Grammar School there, Johnson studied at Pembroke College in Oxford, leaving without taking a degree. He travelled to London in 1737, where he earned his livelihood by contributing essays, poems, Latin verses and biographies to The Gentleman's Magazine. He finally won fame and financial security with the appearance of his Dictionary, published in 1755, after nine years of labour; The Vanity of Human Wishes, the first work to bear Johnson's own name, had appeared six years earlier, in 1749 (see Ruskin and Johnson).