The following were Dr. Johnson’s several places of residence in and near London:—

1.Exeter-street, off Catherine-street, Strand. (1737.)
2.Greenwich. (1737.)
3.Woodstock-street, near Hanover-square. (1737.)
4.Castle-court, Cavendish-square; No. 6. (1738.)
5.Boswell-court.
6.Strand.
7.Strand, again.
8.Bow-street.
9.Holborn.
10.Fetter-lane.
11.Holborn again; at the Golden Anchor, Holborn Bars. (1748.)
12.Gough-square. (1748.)
13.Staple Inn. (1758.)
14.Gray’s Inn.
15.Inner Temple-lane, No. 1. (1760.)
16.Johnson’s-court, Fleet-street, No. 5. (1765.)
17.Bolt-court, Fleet-street, No. 8. (1776.)

REGALITY OF GENIUS.

Gibbon, when speaking of his own genealogy, refers to the fact of Fielding being of the same family as the Earl of Denbigh, who, in common with the Imperial family of Austria, is descended from the celebrated Rodolph, of Hapsburgh. “While the one branch,” he says, “have contented themselves with being sheriffs of Leicestershire, and justices of the peace, the others have been emperors of Germany and kings of Spain; but the magnificent romance of Tom Jones will be read with pleasure, when the palace of the Escurial is in ruins, and the Imperial Eagle of Austria is rolling in the dust.”

FIELDING’S “TOM JONES.”

Fielding having finished the manuscript of Tom Jones, and being at the time hard pressed for money took it to a second-rate publisher, with the view of selling it for what it would fetch at the moment. He left it with the trader, and called upon him next day for his decision. The bookseller hesitated, and requested another day for consideration; and at parting, Fielding offered him the MS. for 25l.

On his way home, Fielding met Thomson, the poet, whom he told of the negotiation for the sale of the MS.; when Thomson, knowing the high merit of the work, conjured him to be off the bargain, and offered to find a better purchaser.

Next morning, Fielding hastened to his appointment, with as much apprehension lest the bookseller should stick to his bargain as he had felt the day before lest he should altogether decline it. To the author’s great joy, the ignorant trafficker in literature declined, and returned the MS. to Fielding. He next set off, with a light heart, to his friend Thomson; and the novelist and the poet then went to Andrew Millar, the great publisher of the day. Millar, as was his practice with works of light reading, handed the MS. to his wife, who, having read it, advised him by no means to let it slip through his fingers.