Britannica Sources used in this answer

Why did Samuel Johnson write An Account of the Life of Mr. Richard Savage?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Painting of Samuel Johnson showing Johnson seated at a desk with a quill in hand and papers before him, wearing a brown coat and white wig. — Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson, oil on canvas by Sir Joshua Reynolds, c. 1756; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Samuel Johnson wrote An Account of the Life of Mr. Richard Savage (1744) to chronicle the life of his friend, the poet and satirist Richard Savage.

Johnson and Savage had become friends after Johnson arrived in London in the late 1730s. Johnson believed that the most effective biographies were written by those who had "lived in social intercourse" with their subjects, and his close relationship with Savage provided him with the necessary personal insight to produce the work.

While Johnson served as a compassionate defender of his friend—even supporting Savage's controversial claim of being the illegitimate son of the Earl of Rivers—the biography is a complex mixture of pathos and satire. Johnson used the account to both commemorate Savage and critically examine his character. Ultimately, the work serves as a moral reflection; while Johnson lamented that poverty and neglect deprived society of Savage’s potential, he concluded that "negligence and irregularity" would inevitably render even the greatest genius contemptible.12