Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- JOHNSON -- BOSWELL -- DRYDEN -- POPE -- GENERAL -- INTRODUCTION Johnson and authority -- CHAPTER 1 Johnson and memory -- TIME AND ATTENTION -- IRONY AND AT-ONE-MENT -- CHAPTER 2 Johnson and nature -- NATURE'S ARTIFICE -- WIT -- METAPHOR -- JOHNSON'S POWER OF PERFORMANCE -- CHAPTER 3 Law, narrative, and memory -- JOHNSON'S LEGAL UNDERSTANDING -- THE DISCURSIVENESS OF LIMITS -- THE RHETORIC OF EVIDENCE -- CHAPTER 4 Narrative, history, and memory in the Lives of the Poets -- BIOGRAPHY'S FICTIVE ENTERPRISE -- REMEMBERING MILTON -- COMMEMORABILITY -- CHAPTER 5 Translation and memor in the Lives of the Poets -- DRYDEN'S COMPREHENSIVENESS -- POPE'S ARTIFICE -- LANGUAGE, HISTORY , POETIC CHARACTER -- SOME VERSIONS OF THE ILIAD -- BIOGRAPHICAL CHARACTER, AUTHORSHIP, AND NOVELISM -- CHAPTER 6 Historiographical implications -- THE LIVES AND LITERARY HISTORY -- THE LIVES AS LIEU DE MÉMOIRE -- Notes -- INTRODUCTION: JOHNSON AND AUTHORITY -- 1 JOHNSON AND MEMORY -- 2 JOHNSON AND NATURE -- 3 LAW, NARRATIVE, AND MEMORY -- 4 NARRATIVE, HISTORY, AND MEMORY IN THE LIVES OF THE POETS -- 5 TRANSLATION AND MEMORY IN THE LIVES OF THE POETS -- 6 HISTORIOGRAPHICAL IMPLICATIONS -- Bibliography -- PRIMARY WORKS OF SAMUEL JOHNSON -- PRIMARY WORKS RELATED TO JOHNSON -- OTHER SELECTED PRIMARY TEXTS -- BIBLIOGRAPHIES -- SELECTED BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL STUDI S OF JOHNSON -- SELECTED GENERAL CRITICAL STUDIES -- Index.