Pot of the Month for April is this pretty little model of Dr Samuel Johnson’s House, Lichfield. Measuring 75mm high x 74mm long, It is inscribed: “Model of the House at Lichfield in which Dr Samuel Johnson was born. Born 1709 Died 1794. Educated at Lichfield Grammar School Buried in Westminster Abbey reg no: 605733”. It comes in both glazed and unglazed versions.
Why did we choose this particular pot for April? Because on 15th April 1755, English Lexicographer Dr Samuel Johnson published his “Dictionary of the English Language”. Listing 40,000 words, it took him and his six helpers nine years to complete. This dictionary was so important because it was the first dictionary to illustrate words by using literary quotations (about 114,000 of them) from great writers, including Shakespeare. It was unsurpassed as a reference work for over a century, until the publication of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1884.
Dr Johnson lived in this house for the first 27 years of his life, and if you visit Lichfield today, you will see that it looks just the same now as it did back then. You can go inside it too, as it is now the Samuel Johnson Birthplace, Museum and Book Shop.
