It has been known since the publication of pre-Boswellian biographies that Samuel Johnson wrote sermons which were preached by others. The twenty-eight that have survived are presented here in their first scholarly edition, with full explanation and textual notes. They include a hitherto unpublished manuscript sermon, now at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, and the celebrated Convict's Address to His Unhappy Brethren, written for the notorious forger, Dr. William Dodd, for delivery to his fellow prisoners on the eve of his execution at Newgate.
In...