Professor Philip Smallwood
Philip Smallwood, BA (Oxon), M.Phil (Oxon), Ph.D. (London), is Emeritus Professor of English at Birmingham City University and Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the Department of English, Bristol University. His teaching and research interests are in the late seventeenth and in the eighteenth century, especially the poetry and criticism of John Dryden, Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson. Other active interests include the history, practice, and theory of literary criticism of all periods, aesthetics, the theory of history, and the writings of the British philosopher R.G. Collingwood.
Over the last two or three decades, and in addition to numerous essays, chapters, and reviews, Professor Smallwood has published 5 monographs, an anthology, edited texts and manuscripts, together with several edited collections of essays. His books include Modern Critics in Practice: Critical Portraits of British Literary Critics (1990), Johnson Re-Visioned: Looking Before and After (2001; 2nd. ed. 2009), the monograph Reconstructing Criticism: Popeâs âEssay on Criticismâ and the Logic of Definition (2003) and in 2004 there appeared his widely-reviewed study of Johnsonâs criticism and historical thought, Johnsonâs Critical Presence: Image, History, Judgment. His edited collection of essays, Critical Pasts: Writing Criticism, Writing History was published in the same year, and in 2005 (2nd. ed. 2007) the co-edited volume, with Wendy James and David Boucher, for Oxford University Press, of R.G. Collingwoodâs Philosophy of Enchantment, an edition of previously unpublished material on the European folktale, with other cultural and critical essays.
More recently (2009) Professor Smallwood has co-edited Samuel Johnson After 300 Years for CUP. His monograph, Critical Occasions: Dryden, Pope, Johnson and the History of Criticism, was published in 2011, and in collaboration with Dr. Min Wild of Plymouth University, a hybrid volume collecting satirical attacks on literary critics in the eighteenth century and entitled Ridiculous Critics: Augustan Mockery of Critical Judgment (2014; paperback 2016). Alongside new essays on Johnson and on Pope, in 2023 Professor Smallwood completed a new monograph for Cambridge University Press entitled The Literary Criticism of Samuel Johnson: Forms of Artistry and Thought. His latest project, an edited volume of essays for Routledge entitled Samuel Johnson in Perspective: Poetry, Criticism and Cultural Relations is forthcoming in 2026.
Several of Professor Smallwoodâs volumes have been the subject of positive reviews in the Times Literary Supplement while Johnsonâs Critical Presence, Ridiculous Critics and Samuel Johnsonâs Literary Criticism have all won Choice American Library Association awards as âOutstanding Academic Titlesâ for the years 2005, 2015 and 2024 respectively.
Professor Smallwood has lectured internationally in Britain, the United States, China, New Zealand, and Australia. He has been awarded Visiting Research Fellowships at the Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University (2000); the School of Advanced Studies, University of London (2000); and St Johnâs College, University of Oxford (2003). In 2013, he was Andrew Mellon/American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Research Fellow at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas. In 2025, he was elected to an Honorary Senior Research Fellowship at the University of Bristol.
From 2010, Professor Smallwood has held a series of honorary academic roles in the Department of English at the University of Bristol, including Honorary Visiting Fellow, Senior Associate Teacher, Senior Honorary Teaching Associate, and currently Honorary Senior Research Fellow. He is a former Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and has held awards from the Arts and Humanities Research Board and the British Academy. He is an elected member of the US Johnsonians and has been an invited speaker at universities including Virginia, Bristol, Bucknell, Columbia, London, Penn State, and the University of the Chinese Academy of the Social Sciences in Beijing.
Professor Smallwood is a member of the editorial board of the journal Eighteenth-Century Life and has advised extensively on university publications, research proposals, and professorial appointments and promotions in both Britain and the United States. As a graduate student at Lincoln College, Oxford, he tutored for St Catherineâs College. He was appointed Lecturer in English at Birmingham Polytechnic in 1976, later becoming Senior Lecturer, and was appointed to a Chair in English at Birmingham City University in 1992. He served as Head of the School of English at șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű from 1990 to 1997.
Between 1991 and 1993, as the Universityâs nominee, Professor Smallwood acted as a consultant to the Higher Education Quality Council, reporting on measures for ensuring academic quality in British universities. In December 2018, at the invitation of the Johnson Society of London, he delivered the Richard Thrale Memorial Lecture on âJohnsonâs Compassionâ and gave an address in Westminster Abbey prior to laying a wreath on the tomb of Samuel Johnson. He returned in December 2025 to give the Thrale Memorial Lecture on âA Time to Laugh: Johnsonâs Exuberanceâ. In February 2025, he delivered the annual Macclesfield Lecture in Melbourne on âRaising the Dead: the Two Lives of Johnsonâs Life of Savageâ, and in March 2025, at the invitation of the Johnson Society of Australia, he gave the annual David Fleeman Memorial Lecture on âStates of Happiness in Abraham Cowley and Samuel Johnsonâ.
Areas of Expertise
- Literary critical scholarship, research and composition
- Aesthetic theory
- The philosophy of history
- Teaching and lecturing at all levels
- Public speaking
Qualifications
- MA (Lincoln College, Oxford)
- M.Phil (Lincoln College, Oxford)
- Ph.D (Kingâs College, London)
Memberships
- American Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies
- British Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies
- The Johnsonians (USA)
- The Johnson Club (UK)
- The Johnson Society of London
Teaching
Current part-time teaching of eighteenth-century poetry and criticism
Research
The poetry and criticism of Alexander Pope; Samuel Johnson; the philosophy of R.G. Collingwood.
Postgraduate Supervision
Supervised a number of M.Phil and Ph.D candidates while in post; also served as external examiner for Ph.D. candidates at the Universities of Nottingham, Birmingham, and Exeter.
Publications
Philip Smallwood - Classified List of Publications, Lectures, Papers and Presentations.
Books
Samuel Johnson in Perspective: Poetry, Criticism and Cultural Relations, ed. (London: Routledge, forthcoming 2026).
The Literary Criticism of Samuel Johnson: Forms of Artistry and Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023). Monograph. 219pp. Choice American Library Association âOutstanding Academic Titleâ Award 2024.
Published in paperback, 2025Ìę
See also âCriteria of the Heart: Dr. Johnson at the Travelodge,âÌę
Reviews:
Freya Johnston, London Review of Books, vol. 46, no. 8, 25 April 2024, pp. 37-39: âexpansive, patient and sympatheticâ;
A.W. Lee, The New Rambler, 2022-2023, 111-115: âResonant with the eminent tradition of British practical critics such as Frank Kermode and Donald Davie, Smallwood possesses the intellectual acuity to formulate his own perspectives on literature and culture, and the argumentative skill to make them persuasively felt by his readersâ;
Michael Adams, Modern Philology 122, no. 2 (2024): 36â39.
Phil Jones, The Scriblerian, vol. 57, no. 2, 2024, 244-47. âOne of the bookâs strengths is the vivid fluency of the writing, which en-livens the subject under discussion.â
Frans De Bruyn, The Johnsonian News Letter, Vol. LXXVI, no. 2, 57-63. âSmallwood writes knowledgeably, insightfully, and sympathetically about Johnson as critic, drawing on a life-time of study and reflection.â
Kraft, Elizabeth. Review ofÌęThe Literary Criticism of Samuel Johnson: Forms of Artistry and Thought, by Philip Smallwood. Choice 61, no. 11 (2024): 1149: âIn a brilliant reconsideration of the literary criticism of Samuel Johnson, Smallwood (Birmingham City Univ., UK) argues that affective response, not rational analysis, drove Johnsonâs literary pronouncements. As Smallwood thoroughly demonstrates, lived experienceâemotional, relational, philosophical, temporal, editorialâis at the heart of Johnsonâs critical enterpriseâ.
Ridiculous Critics: Augustan Mockery of Critical Judgment, ed. Philip Smallwood and Min Wild (Bucknell University Press/Rowman and Littlefield, 2014; 2nd edition [paperback], 2016). Critical Anthology, 246pp.ÌęChoice American Library Association âOutstanding Academic Titleâ Award 2015.
Associate Editor, âCriticism and Cultureâ, Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Eighteenth-Century Literature, 3 vols. (Oxford: Blackwell, 2014).
Critical Occasions: Dryden, Pope, Johnson, and the History of CriticismÌę(New York, AMS Press, 2011). Monograph,169pp.
Reviews:
Sophie Gee, âNo Danger to Booksâ, Times Literary Supplement, March 23, 2012.
Kickel, Katherine. Review of Critical Occasions: Dryden, Pope, Johnson, and the History of Criticism, by Philip Smallwood. The Scriblerian and the Kit-Cats 46, no. 2 (Spring 2014): 157â59.
Vilmar, Christopher. Review of Critical Occasions: Dryden, Pope, Johnson, and the History of Criticism, by Philip Smallwood. Choice 49, no. 6 (February 2012): 3142.
Vilmar, Christopher. Review of Critical Occasions: Dryden, Pope, Johnson, and the History of Criticism, by Philip Smallwood. CLIO: A Journal of Literature, History, and the Philosophy of History 45, no. 2 (Spring 2016): 251â58.ÌęSamuel Johnson After 300 Years, ed. Philip Smallwood and Greg Clingham. Edited volume (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009; paperback 2012), Edited collection of essays, 291pp.
The Philosophy of Enchantment: Studies in Folktale, Cultural Criticism and Anthropology by R.G. Collingwood, co-edited by Philip Smallwood, David Boucher and Wendy James (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005; 2nd. edition, 2007), 380pp.
Critical Pasts: Writing Criticism, Writing History (Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2004). Edited collection of essays, 212pp.
Johnsonâs Critical Presence: Image, History, Judgment (London: Routledge, 2004), 180pp. Choice American Library Association âOutstanding Academic Titleâ Award 2005.
Reconstructing Criticism: Popeâs âEssay on Criticismâ and the Logic of Definition (Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2003). Monograph, 225pp.
Reviews:
Jennifer Snead,ÌęEighteenth-Century StudiesÌę
To do full justice to Smallwood's careful disentangling of the knotted logic that surrounds and limits contemporary debates on the nature and function of literary criticism is impossible within the scope of this essay. It is testimony, however, to the possibilities that his application of Collingwood's thought to this problem have opened up that, unlike the other five books under review here,ÌęReconstructing CriticismÌępresents its readers with a reading of Pope that simultaneously takes into account form and content, "word" and "world," without nostalgia, hostility, or anachronism.
Johnson Re-Visioned: Looking Before and AfterÌę(Lewisburg and London: Bucknell University Press/Associated University Press, 2001). Edited collection, with Introduction, 179 pp. 2nd. edn. (paperback) 2009.
Modern Critics in Practice: Critical Portraits of British Literary CriticsÌę(St. Martinâs Press: London and New York, 1990).ÌęMonograph, 259 pp.
The Johnson Quotation BookÌę(Bristol Classical Press: Bristol, 1989). Based on the collection of Chartres Biron. Edition, with new Introduction, 151 pp.
Samuel Johnsonâs Preface to ShakespeareÌę(1778 edn.; Bristol Classical Press: Bristol, 1985). Edition, with Introduction and Commentary, 185 pp. The most fully annotated edition of Johnsonâs Preface to date.
A Concise Chronology of English LiteratureÌę(Croom Helm: London, 1985). Compendium, with Introduction, 220 pp.
Essays/Chapters in Books
- âAlexander Pope,âÌęThe Oxford History of Poetry in English, Vol. 6:ÌęEighteenth-Century British Poetry, ed. Christine Gerrard and Corrina Readioff (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 10,000-word essay, forthcoming 2026).
- âCritical Friendships in the Lives of the Poets,âÌęSamuel Johnson and the Powers of Friendship, ed. Daniel Derrin, Dani Napton and Anthony Cousins (London: Routledge, 2023), 129-144.
- âCowleyâs Singularity: Pindarique Odes and Johnsonian Values,â inÌęAbraham Cowley (1618-1667): The Seventeenth-Century English Poet Lost to History, ed. Cedric D. Reverand II and Michael Edson (Clemson-Liverpool University Press, 8,000 words, 2023), 195-216.
- âJohnson and Stendhal: a French Critical Connection,âÌęThe Spirit of Every Place: Howard Weinbrot and the Precincts of Enlightenment, ed. Kevin Cope (Lehigh University Press, 2024), 275-290 (8,000 word essay.)
- âBeatus Ille: Pope and the Mythos of Retirement,â inÌęPope's Mythologies: Alexander Pope and Myth in the Early British Enlightenment, ed. Tony Cousins and Daniel Derrin (London: Routledge, 2023), 115-32 (7,000 word essay.)
- âEmotionâ,ÌęThe Oxford Handbook of Samuel Johnson, ed. Jack Lynch (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022), 599-616 (8,000-word essay).
- âJohnson and the Essayâ, inÌęThe New Cambridge Companion to Samuel Johnson, ed. Greg Clingham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023), 27-40. (5,500 word essay).
- âMirrored Minds: Johnson and Shakespeare,â inÌęA Clubbable Man: Essays on Eighteenth-Century Literature in Honor of Greg Clingham, ed. Anthony W. Lee (Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2022), 5-21. (7,000 word essay).
- âLiterary and Aesthetic Theoryâ,ÌęThe Cambridge Companion to Eighteenth-Century Thought, ed. Frans de Bruyn (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021), pp. 205-26 (8,000 word essay).
- The Yearâs Work in English Studies, vol. 2, 2023, p. 650: Philip Smallwood, âLiterary and Aesthetic Theory (pp. 205-26), is an accomplished whistle-stop tour of eighteenth-century ideas about the nature of art and literature, taking in French neoclassicists, the emergence of aesthetics as a distinct discipline, the aesthetic thought of writers such as Johnson and Pope (on whom Smallwood is especially good) and the ascendance of belles-lettres in the second half of the centuryâ
- âPopeâs Precocious Decade: Models of Literary History for the Age of Queen Anneâ, inÌęAlexander Pope in the Time of Queen Anne, ed. Tony Cousins and Daniel Derrin (London: Routledge, 2020), 60-76 (8,000-word essay).
- âTension, Contraries, and Blakeâs Augustan Valuesâ, inÌęPaper, Ink and Achievement: Gabe Hornstein and the Revival of Eighteenth-Century Scholarship, ed. Kevin Cope and Cedric D. Reverand II (Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2020), 176-191 (8,000-word essay).
- âShakespeare, Montaigne, and Philosophical Anti-Philosophyâ,ÌęShakespeare and Philosophy, ed. Craig Bourne and Emily Caddick Bourne (London: Routledge, 2019), 77-87 (6,000-word essay).
- âJohnson on Truth, Fiction and âUndisputed History,ââÌęThe Ways of Fiction in the Eighteenth Century: New Essays on the Literary Cultures of the Eighteenth Century, ed. Nicholas J. Crowe (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholarsâ Publishing, 2018), 198-212 (6,000-word essay).
- âHistoriesâ,ÌęOxford Handbook of British Poetry, 1660-1800, ed. Jack Lynch (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), 701-15 (8,000 word essay)
- âGreat Annaâs Chaucer, Popeâs January and May and the Logic of Settlementâ,ÌęQueen Anne and the Arts, ed. Cedric D. Reverand II (Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2014), 99-117 (8,000 word essay)
- âR.G. Collingwoodâs Autobiography as Literatureâ, chapter 10 ofÌęAn Autobiography and Other Writings, with essays on Collingwoodâs Life and Work, ed. David Boucher and Teresa Smith (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 427-45.
- âJohnson and Timeâ,ÌęSamuel Johnson: the Arc of the Pendulum, ed. Freya Johnston and Lynda Mugglestone (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 11-23.Ìę
- âQuestioning Nature: Drydenâs Fables, Ancient and Modern,âÌęTeaching Dryden, ed. Lisa Zunshine and Jayne Lewis (PMLA, 2013). (2,500-word essay)
- âThe Classical Criticsâ,ÌęOxford History of Classical Reception in English Literature, vol 3: 1660-1790, ed. David Hopkins and Charles Martindale (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 361-400.
- âShakespeare and Philosophyâ,ÌęShakespeare and the Eighteenth Century, ed. Peter Sabor and Fiona Ritchie (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), 331-48.
- âLiterary Criticismâ,ÌęSamuel Johnson in Context, ed. Jack Lynch (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), 234-42.
- ââDead Keen on Reasonâ: Critical Approaches to Eighteenth-Century Studiesâ,ÌęThe Eighteenth Century Literature Handbook, ed. Gary Day and Bridget Keegan (London: Continuum, 2009), 145-67.
- âJohnson, the Arts, and the Idea of Artâ, essay forÌęSamuel Johnson After 300 Years, ed. Greg Clingham and Philip Smallwood (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 164-85.
- (With Greg Clingham) âJohnson Now and In Timeâ, introductory essay forÌęSamuel Johnson After 300 Years, ed. Greg Clingham and Philip Smallwood (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 1-14.
- Introduction to my edited special feature on âCritical Voices: Humor, Irony and Passion in the Literary Critics of the Long Eighteenth Centuryâ, forÌę1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era, gen. ed. Kevin Cope, vol. 15 (2008), 184-88.
- âVoice and Laughter in Johnsonâs Criticismâ, 293-314. In the above special feature.
- âJohnsonâs Criticism and Critical Global Studiesâ,ÌęThe Age of Johnson, vol. 18 (Paul Korshin Memorial volume, 2007), 151-165.
- âThe French Criticsâ.ÌęThe Oxford History of Literary Translation in English, 3: 1660-1790, ed. Stuart Gillespie and David Hopkins (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). Chapter 6, 374-380.
- (With Philip Tew), âBritish Theory and Criticism 5: 1900 and Afterâ,ÌęThe Johns Hopkins Guide to Criticism and Theory, 2nd ed., edited by Michael Groden, Martin Kreiswirth, and Imre Szeman (Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005), 156-62.
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ââTo Value Still the Trueâ: Popeâs Essay on Criticism and the Problem of the Historical Modeâ, inÌęCritical Pasts: Writing Criticism, Writing HistoryÌę(Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2004), 75-94.
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âIntroduction: Problems and Paradoxes in the History of Criticismâ,ÌęCritical Pasts: Writing Criticism, Writing HistoryÌę(Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2004), 1-11.
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âDryden, Critical Judgment and the History of Criticismâ, inÌęDryden and the World of Neoclassicism, ed. Wolfgang Görtschacher and Holger Klein (Tubingen: Stauffenburg-Verl., 2001), (Studies in English and Comparative Literature, 17), 27-39.
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âIronies of the Critical Past: Historicizing Johnsonâs Criticismâ inÌęJohnson Re-Visioned: Looking Before and AfterÌę(Lewisburg and London: Bucknell University Press/Associated University Press, 2001), 114-133.
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âFrom Illusion to Reality: R.G. Collingwood and the Fictional Art of Jane Austenâ,ÌęCollingwood Studies, 4:ÌęVariations: Themes from the Manuscripts, ed. David Boucher and Bruce Haddock (University of Wales College, Swansea: Collingwood Society, 1998), 71-100.
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âShakespeare: Johnsonâs Poet of Natureâ,ÌęThe Cambridge Companion to Samuel Johnson, ed. Greg Clingham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 143-160.
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From a review inÌęThe Yearâs Work in English StudiesÌę(1997), 453: âFred Parker, Philip Smallwood, Paul Korshin and Robert DeMaria masterfully discuss Rasselas, the Preface to Shakespeare, The Rambler and the Dictionaryâ.
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âA Time to Laughâ: Johnsonâs Exuberanceâ, The New Rambler: Journal of the Johnson Society of London, forthcoming.
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âRaising the Dead: the two lives of Johnsonâs âLife of Savageââ, The Age of Johnson, vol. 26 (forthcoming 2026)
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âSome Unfinished Business in Johnson Studiesâ, The Age of Johnson (forthcoming 2026).
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ââThe Opiate of Ignoranceâ: Dr. Johnson and the Great Chain of Being, OR, Education and Social Mobilityâ, The New Rambler: : Journal of the Johnson Society of London (2023-24), 35-39 (2025).
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âAfter Guillory: Professing Johnsonâs Criticismâ, Johnsonian News Letter (March 2025), 31-41.
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âFairy Tales, Madness and Total Warâ, Human Affairs: Postdisciplinary Humanities and Social Sciences Quarterly, vol. 34, Issue 4 (October 2024), 467-473.
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âEncounters with Johnson: Rasselas, Prince of Abyssiniaâ, The Johnson Society of Lichfield, Transactions, 2022, 63-69.
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âJohnsonâs Compassionâ, The New Rambler: Journal of the Johnson Society of London (2018-2019), 36-53.
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âOn Being Johnsonian In Beijingâ, Johnsonian News Letter Vol. LXXI, no. 2 (September 2020), 49-53.
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âPetty Caviller or âFormidable Assailantâ: Johnson Reads Dennisâ, The Cambridge Quarterly, Vol. 46, no. 4 (Dec. 2017) 305-24.
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âTwo Ways of Being Wise: Shakespeare and the Johnsonian Montaigneâ, Poetica (Tokyo) 84 (2015), 55-76.
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âMajesty and the Arts: Queen Anneâs Cultural Revolutionâ, Eighteenth-Century Life 39: 2 (April 2015), 66-70.
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âNot the History of Ideas: Laughter, Music and Metaphor in Popeâs Definition of Criticismâ, for special feature on âmetaphorâ for 1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era (2011), ed. Mark Pedreira. (7,000-word essay)
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âAnnotated Immortality: Lonsdaleâs Johnsonâ, Eighteenth-Century Life, 31:3 (2007), 76-84.
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âLiterary Histories Old and Newâ, The Age of Johnson, vol. 18, (2007), 363-69.
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âJohnsonâs Criticism and the Passage of Theoryâ, The New Rambler: the Journal of the Johnson Society of London, 2003-2004, 3-11.
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âThe Johnsonian Monster and the Lives of the Poets: James Gillray, Critical History and the Eighteenth-Century Satirical Cartoonâ, The British Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, 25, no. 2 (Autumn 2002), 217-45.
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ââMore Creative than Creationâ: The Idea of Criticism and the Student Criticâ, Journal of Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 1, no.1 (June 2002), 59-71. Specially commissioned essay for the inaugural edition of this journal.
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ââThe True Creative Mindâ: R.G. Collingwoodâs Critical Humanismâ, The British Journal of Aesthetics, 41, no. 3 (July 2001), 293-311.
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âDrydenâs Criticism as Transfusionâ, in Dryden tercentenary number of Translation and Literature (Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press, 2001), 78-88.ÌęReviewed in The Scriblerian, 37 (2005), 27.
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(With Tom Mason), âIntroducing the Long Eighteenth Century: Literary History and the New Pedagogyâ, Cambridge Quarterly, 29, no. 3 (September 2000), 191-213.
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âHistorical Re-Construction, Literary Transmission and the Value of R.G. Collingwoodâ, Translation and Literature, 9:1 (Spring 2000), 3-24.
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ââOutside the Academic Foldâ: Criticism, Theorists and the Men of Lettersâ, English: The Journal of the English Association, 47 (Spring 1998), 1-12.
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âCriticism and the Meanings of âTheoryââ, British Journal of Aesthetics, 37, no. 4 (October 1997), 377-385.
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âCriticism, Valuation and Useful Purposeâ, New Literary History, 28, no. 4 (âPhilosophical Thoughtsâ, Autumn 1997), 711-722.
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âProblems in the Definition of Criticismâ, British Journal of Aesthetics, 36, no. 3 (July 1996), 252-264.
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âThe Definition of Criticismâ, New Literary History, 27:3 (âLiterary Subjectsâ, Summer 1996), 545-554.
Reviews and Review Essays (from 1998)
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Review of Edward Tomarken, Ethical Criticism: Samuel Johnsonâs Lives of the Poets, New Rambler: Journal of the Johnson Society of London (2023-2024).
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Review of Joseph Hone, Alexander Pope in the Making. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021. The Scriblerian, Spring, 2024.
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âRomantics De-Romanticised?â Review of âGenialâ Perception: Wordsworth, Coleridge, and the Myth of Genius in the Long Eighteenth Century, by William Edinger. Clemson University Press, 2022. Cambridge Quarterly, Vol. 52, no. 2 (2023), 187-193.
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âChoosing Johnson.â Review of Samuel Johnson: Selected Works, ed. Robert DeMaria Jr., Stephen Fix and Howard D. Weinbrot (New Haven and London: Yale University Press), and 21st-Century Authors: Samuel Johnson, ed. David Womersley (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), New Rambler:Journal of the Johnson Society of London (2022), 76-82.
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Review of Johnson in Japan (Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2021), The Johnsonian News Letter (September 2021), 57-61.
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âPope Well-Notedâ. Review of Paul Baines and Julian Ferraro (eds.), the Longman Annotated Edition of the Poems of Alexander Pope, Volume 1 (London: Routledge, 2019), Eighteenth-Century Life 45: 2 (April 2021), 56-62.
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Review of Anthony W. Lee, âJohnsonâs âFrench Authorsâ: Rambler 5 and 87â, ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews (26 August, 2019). The Scriblerian (Fall 2020).
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Review of Melvyn New and Robert G. Walker, ââCurious Particularsâ: The Will of Thomas Cumming, the Fighting Quaker,â Johnsonian News Letter 70 (September 2019): 18-27. The Scriblerian (Fall 2020)
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Reviews of Anthony W. Lee, âJohnson, Statius, and the Classical Motto,â Johnsonian News Letter, Volume LXIX, No. 1 (March 2018), 16-23; ââGaping Heirsâ: Line Forty-Eight of Samuel Johnsonâs THE VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES,â The Explicator (2017), vol. 75, no. 3, 160-65; ââLook, My Lord, It Comesâ: Ghostly Silences in the Boswell/Johnson Archive,â Notes and Queries (2017), 1-5. The Scriblerian, Vol. LII, no, 2 (Spring 2020),155-157.
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Review of Anthony W. Lee (ed.) New Essays on Samuel Johnson: Revaluation (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2018), Notes & Queries (December 2019).
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âJohnsonâs Works and the Hinterlands of Biographyâ, ed. O M Brack, Jr., and Robert DeMaria, Jr., The Yale Edition of the Works of Samuel Johnson, vol. 19 (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2016), The New Rambler (2015-2016), 67-74.
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Review of Howard D. Weinbrot, Samuel Johnson: New Contexts for a New Century. Ed. Howard D. Weinbrot (San Marino, California: Huntington Library, 2014), The Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies (May 2017), 299-300.
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Review of John B. Radner, Johnson and Boswell: A Biography of Friendship (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2012), The Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies (January 2017), 153-54.
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âDefinitively Johnson?â Review of The Yale Edition of Johnsonâs Lives of the English Poets, The New Rambler (2010-2011), 81-90.
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Review of Ruth Mack, Literary Historicity: Literature and Historical Experience in Eighteenth-Century Britain, Eighteenth-Century Studies, 2010.
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Review of Fred Inglis, History Man: the Life of R.G. Collingwood, Times Higher Education Supplement âBook of the Weekâ, 2010.
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Review of Paul Davis, Translation and the Poetâs Life: the Ethics of Translating in English Culture, 1646-1726 for the Review of English Studies, Vol. 60, Issue 246 (September 2009), 653-654.
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âA Polemicistâs Progressâ, âBook of the Weekâ, Review of Gary Dayâs Literary Criticism: A New History, the Times Higher Education Supplement, 19th June, 2008.
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Review of Freya Johnston, Samuel Johnson and the Art of Sinking, 1709-1791 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), The New Rambler, 2006-2007.
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Review of Nicholas Hudson, Samuel Johnson and the Making of Modern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), The 18th Century: A Current Bibliography.
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Reviews of new articles on Drydenâs translations for The Scriblerian, 36, no. 1 (Autumn 2003), 13 and 15-16.
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âEnglandâs Literature Restored?â Review essay on A History of English Literature, by Michael Alexander, Essays in Criticism, 51, no. 4. (October 2001), 442-450.
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Review of Eighteenth-Century Literary History, ed. Marshall Brown, Comparative Literature Studies, 37: 4 (2000), 442-48.
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Review of Kevin Hart, Samuel Johnson and the Culture of Property, The New Rambler (1999-2000), 50-52.
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Review Essay: The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism Volume IV: The Eighteenth Century, ed. H.B. Nisbet and Claude Rawson, The Age of Johnson, ed. Paul J. Korshin (New York: AMS Press) Vol. 10 (1999), 392-399.
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Review of The Age of Johnson, 7: Samuel Johnson and Jacobitism (New York: AMS Press, 1996), British Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, 21, no. 1(1998), 91-92.
2025
- âA Time to Laugh: Johnsonâs Exuberanceâ, The Richard Thrale Memorial Lectures, Johnson Society of London, 13th Dec. 2025.
- âStates of Happiness in Abraham Cowley and Samuel Johnsonâ, the David Fleeman Memorial Lecture, the Johnson Society of Australia, Melbourne 8th March, 2025.
- âRaising the Dead: the Two Lives of Johnsonâs Life of Savageâ, Macclesfield Lecture to the Melbourne Savage Club, 27th February 2025.
2024
- ââPerpetually a poetâ: Johnsonâs Poetry in Prose and Verseâ. Johnson Society of Lichfield Mary Baker Winter Lecture 21st January, 2024.
2023
- âJohnson, Popeâs Iliad and Total Warâ. Johnson Club, Lincoln College, Oxford, 19th May, 2023.
2021
- âHappiness in Pope and Johnsonâ. Lecture, University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China, 17th December 2021.
- âJohnson and the Essayâ. Lecture to the Johnson Society of London, 13th February 2021.
2019
- âThe Poetic Precocity of Alexander Pope: âthe little Queen Anneâs Manââ; ââAs a mother weeps over her babe.â Samuel Johnson, Shakespeare and Emotionâ; âGeneral Nature and the Humanity of the âLives of the Poetsââ. Three lectures delivered at the University of the Chinese Academy of the Social Sciences, Beijing, China.
- âSamuel Johnson and the Rhythm of the Lives.â Talk at Dr. Johnsonâs House, Gough Square, London.
- âIn his own wordsâSamuel Johnson and the Life of Writingâ. Address to the English Speaking Union, Bristol (with Pam Smallwood)
2018
- âDr Johnson and Mr Pope,â talk at Dr Johnsonâs House in aid of Popeâs grotto appeal.
- âJohnsonâs Compassionâ, Annual Wreath Laying at Westminster Abbey and Richard Thrale Memorial Lecture, Johnson Society of London, December 2018.
2016
- âTwo Comprehensive Minds: Samuel Johnson and William Shakespeareâ, The Shakespeare Club, Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon, 8th November 2016.
- âTwo Ways of Being Wise: Shakespeare and the Johnsonian Montaigneâ, Guest Lecture, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, April 2016.
2015
- ââAs a mother weeps over her babeâ: Johnsonâs Shakespeare and the Truth of Feelingâ, Guest Lecture, Johnsonâs Shakespeare Festival, Dr Johnsonâs House, Gough Square, London, September, 2015.
- Contributor to Roundtable on Johnsonâs Shakespeare Edition, Johnsonâs Shakespeare Festival, Dr Johnsonâs House, Gough Square, London, August, 2015.
2012
- âTheory and Practice in the History of Poetryâ, A Lecture. Symposium on the Philosophy of History, Institute of Historical Research, University of London, March 2012.
2011
- âR. G. Collingwood and Literatureâ. Paper to the Symposium on the Philosophy of History, Institute of Historical Research, University of London, June 2011.
2010
- âJohnson, Philosophy, and the Criticism of Shakespeareâ, Invited address to the Spring 2010 meeting of the Johnson Club of Great Britain. At the invitation of the Secretary, Sir Malcolm Jack.
2009
- âSamuel Johnson and Timeâ. Inaugural lecture at the Samuel Johnson Tercentenary Conference, Pembroke College, Oxford University, at the invitation of the organisers, September 2009.
- âJohnsonâs Criticism and the Reign of Historicismâ. Houghton Library Johnson Tercentenary Symposium, Harvard University, August 2009.
- âThe Classical Criticsâ. AHRC/University of Bristol-sponsored symposium in preparation for publication of the Oxford History of Classical Reception in English Literature, forthcoming Bristol, June 2009.
- Recorded interview with Professor Sir Christopher Ricks (quondam Oxford Professor of Poetry), Professor Leo Damrosch Jr. and the poet David Ferry, Bucknell University Johnson Symposium, March 2009.
2008
- âCollingwoodâs An Autobiography as Literatureâ. Invited lecture. University of Chichester, December 2008.
2007
- âJohnson and the Idea of the Artsâ. Invited lecture. Bucknell University. September 2007
2006
- âA Question of Tone: Johnsonâs Critical Voice on Shakespeare and the Poetsâ; talk, by invitation, at Dr Johnsonâs House, London, November 2006.
- âMetaphor and Metamorphosis: Pope, Criticism and Critical Historyâ, invited paper to the Research Seminar of the University of Northampton, January 2006.
2005
- âWhat Is a History of Criticism?â Nottingham Trent University research seminar, invited paper, November 2005.
2004
- âWays of Seeing and Ways of Reading: Literature, Critical History, and the Eighteenth-Century Satirical Caricatureâ, invited paper to the University of Oxford âRestoration to Reformâ Research Seminar, Mansfield College.
2003
- âJohnsonâs Criticism and the Passage of Theoryâ. The Johnson Society of London, October 2003.
- âWhat Is a History of Criticism? The Limits of âRadicalityââ. Plenary address to the inaugural conference on âCriticism and Radicalityâ, Centre for Critical Practice, University of Central England, September 2003.
- ââTo Value Still the Trueâ: Popeâs Essay on Criticism, Reception Aesthetics and the Problem of Critical Historyâ. Columbia University, New York, Eighteenth-Century European Culture Faculty Seminar, April 2003.
2002
- âFather Beating, Holy Text and the History of Criticismâ, colloquium on âMaking and Unmaking the Canonâ, at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, April 2002.
2001
- âPoetical Justice, Natural Justice and the Death of Cordelia: Johnson on King Learâ, to the Ethics and Aesthetics Seminar, School of Advanced Study, Senate House, University of London, March 2001.
2000
- âCritical Pastsâ, Annual Churchill Lecture to the Department of English, University of Bristol (by invitation from the Head of Department).
1998
- âWriting History/Writing Criticismâ, to the Departments of English and Philosophy, Bucknell Univ., Pennsylvania (by invitation from the National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of Humanities).
- âCollingwood and Literary Criticismâ, to the Department of English and the Department of Philosophy, Penn State University, State College, PA, March 1998 (at the invitation of the Head of the Department of English).
1997
- âOn the Idea of Criticismâ, Camille Hess Lecture: Department of English, University of Virginia (by invitation from the Editor of New Literary History).
1992
- âJohnsonâs Critical Humanismâ, Johnson Society of Lichfield Lecture.
Recent and Forthcoming International Conference Contributions
2026
- âGrandeur and Intimacy in Johnsonâs Poetry: A Legacy to the Thralesâ, British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Pembroke College, Oxford, January, 2026.
- Chair of âJohnson According to Scaleâ, British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Pembroke College, Oxford, January, 2026.
2025
- âHow to be Happyâ: Abraham Cowleyâs âEssays in Verse and Prose,ââ British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Pembroke College, Oxford, January 9th 2025.
2024
- âAfter Guillory: Professing Johnsonâs Criticismâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies,â Toronto, March 2024.
- ââPere du romanticisme: Johnson and Stendhal,â British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies conference, Oxford, January 2024.
2022
- âJohnson and Friendshipâ for the East Central American Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies, Wilmington, Delaware, October 2022.
2021
- âCowleyâs Pindarics and Johnsonian Valuesâ for the panel The Unseen Abraham Cowley: Vast Bodies Unexplained, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Toronto, March 2021 (online conference).
2018
- Session Chair: âThe Presence of the Past: John Drydenâs Translated Verseâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Orlando, Florida, March/April 2018.
- âPopeâs Precocious Decade,â American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Orlando, Florida, March 2018.
2017
- âJohnson on Truth and âUndisputed Historyâ in Dryden and Popeâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Minneapolis, Minnesota, March/April 2017.
2016
- ââPetty Cavillerâ or âFormidable Assailantâ: Johnson Reads John Dennisâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 2016.
2015
- âImprobable LiaisonsâJohnsonâs Shakespeare, the Sum of Life and the Wisdom of Montaigneâ, Conference in Celebration of the 250th anniversary of the publication of Johnsonâs Shakespeare, Pembroke College, Oxford, August 2015.
- âLaughter at Critics Old and Newâ, Roundtable, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Los Angeles, California, March 2015.
- âJohnson According to Leavis: Irony in Revoltâ, British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Oxford, January 2015.
2013
- âTensions, Contrarieties, and Blakeâs Augustan Valuesâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Cleveland, Ohio, April 2013.
2011
- âReaders Curious and Common: Johnsonâs âLivesâ and Wartonâs âHistory.ââ International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Graz, Austria, July 2011. At the invitation of the panel coordinator for âCritical Authority,â Sabine Volk-Birke.
2010
- âThe Lives of the English Poets and Critical Modernityâ, Roundtable, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Albuquerque, New Mexico, March 2010.
- Organiser and Chair of panel on âCritical History and Eighteenth-Century Philosophyâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Albuquerque, New Mexico, March 2010.
2009
- Chair of panel, âSamuel Johnson and Europeâ, Houghton Library Johnson Symposium, Harvard University, August 2009.
- âSamuel Johnson and the Theory of Historyâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Richmond, Virginia, March 2009.
- Organiser of panel on âJohnsonâs Shakespeareâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Richmond, Virginia, March 2009.
2008
- âJohnson and the Artsâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Portland, Oregon, March 2008.
- Organiser of panel on âJohnson Imagined and Re-Imaginedâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Portland, Oregon, March 2008.
2007
- âJohnson and French Criticismâ, International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Montpellier, France, July 2007.
- âOn Re-Writing the History of Literary Criticism, 1660-1800â, Eighteenth-Century Narratives Conference, University of Exeter, April 2007.
- âThe Ignis Fatuus in Butler, Rochester, Dryden, and Johnsonâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Atlanta, March 2007.
- Organiser and chair of panel on âSatirical Attacks on Critics and Criticism in the Long Eighteenth Centuryâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Atlanta, March 2007.
- âJohnsonâs Critical Toneâ, British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Oxford, January 2007.
2006
- âJohnsonâs Critical Satireâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Montreal, March 2006.
- Organiser and chair of panel on âAlexander Pope and the Spirit of Criticismâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Montreal, March 2006.
- âDryden, Literary Criticism and Comic Humanismâ for panel on âDrydenâs Comic Humanismâ, British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Oxford, January 2006.
2005
- Contributor to panel on R.G. Collingwoodâs Philosophy of Enchantment, R.G. Collingwood Conference, Coniston, July 2005.
- âCritical Friends and Critical Enemies: Johnson and Joseph Wartonâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Las Vegas, Nevada, March 2005.
- Organiser and chair of panel on âJohnsonâs Criticism and the World of Theoryâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Las Vegas, Nevada, March 2005.
2004
- âThe Tragic and Comic Narrative of Eighteenth-Century Literary Criticismâ, conference on Eighteenth-Century Narratives, Exeter University, July 2004.
- âPope, Criticism and Making it Newâ. American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Boston, March 2004.
- Organiser and chair of panel: âThe Critical Muse: Poets as Critics in the Long Eighteenth Centuryâ. American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Boston, March 2004.
2003
- âJohnsonâs Criticism of Cowleyâs Pindaric Odes: A Question of Judgmentâ. Northeastern Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Providence College, Rhode Island, 6th-9th November, 2003.
- âSamuel Johnson and the Globalization of Shakespeareâ, International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Los Angeles, August, 2003.
- âEighteenth-Century Literary History and the Satirical Caricatureâ, British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Oxford, Jan. 2003
2002
- Organiser and chair of panel, ââDead Men Donât Biteâ: Historicity and Eighteenth-Century Literary Criticismâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Colorado Springs, April 2002.
- âSamuel Johnsonâs Critical Comedyâ, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Colorado Springs, April 2002.
- âSamuel Johnson and the Literary Canonâ, British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, Cambridge, January 2002.
2001
- âJohnson and Criticism After Theoryâ (by invitation), North Eastern American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, Halifax, Nova Scotia, October/November 2001.
- ââMotion without Progressâ: Recovering Literary Criticismâ, De Montfort University conference on âPost-Theoryâ, September 2001.
- âJohnsonâs Periodical Essays in Criticismâ at the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies conference, New Orleans, April 18th-22nd, 2001.
- Organiser and chair of panel on ââThe Museâs Handmaidâ?: The Idea of Criticism in the Eighteenth Centuryâ, at the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies conference, New Orleans, April 18th-22nd, 2001.
- âOn Writing the History of Eighteenth-Century Criticism: An Allusion to R.S. Craneâ (by invitation) at the North Eastern Modern Language Association of America conference, Hartford, Connecticut, 30th-31st March, 2001.
2000
- ââThe True Creative Mindâ: R.G. Collingwood and the Traditions of Twentieth-Century Literary Criticismâ at the conference on British Idealism at the Millennium, The Collingwood and British Idealism Centre, Cardiff University, 14th-16th December, 2000.
- âDrydenâs Critical Transfusionsâ (by invitation of the organizers) to the Tercentenary Conference on âJohn Dryden (1631-1700): Poet, Classicist, Translatorâ, Department of English/Department of Classics/Centre for the Classical Tradition, University of Bristol, July, 2000.
- âThe Culturalization of Eighteenth-Century Studiesâ (as member of panel chaired by Professor Jill Campbell [Yale University] on âThe Category of âLiteratureâ in Literary Studies Today: Beliefs and Methodologiesâ at the annual conference of the American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, Philadelphia, April 2000).
- Organiser and chair of panel on âJohnsonâs Critical Judgments Todayâ at the annual conference of the American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, Philadelphia, April 2000.
1999
- âHistoricizing Johnsonâs Criticismâ (as panel member for âJohnson at the Millennium: Looking Before and Afterâ, the 10th International Congress on the Enlightenment, Dublin, July 1999).
- âIntroducing the Eighteenth Century: âSmug Menâ and âTight Little Coupletsââ, delivered at the annual conference of the British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, Oxford, January 1999.
1998
- âJohnson, Cowley and Such Gaiety of Fancyâ, to the Annual Conference of the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Oxford, January 1998.
1997
- âWhat Criticism Is: Reflections on the Present Tense of the Verb âTo Beââ, keynote lecture at conference on âCriticism and its Temporalitiesâ, University of Kent, July 1997.
- âIn Defence of Judgment: Samuel Johnson and the Idea of Criticismâ, to the Annual Meeting of the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Oxford, January 1997.
1996
- âAlexander Pope and the Definition of Criticismâ to the Annual Convention of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, University of Texas, Austin, March/April 1996.
PerformancesÌę
âNow and in Timeâ: Birmingham City University celebrates the tercentenary of the birth of Samuel Johnson, October 20th, 2009, Recital Hall, Birmingham Conservatoire, readings presented in collaboration with the Birmingham Book Festival.Ìę
Online publications
âThe Life of Samuel Johnsonâ inÌęThe Literary DictionaryÌę(on-line edition) ed. Robert Clarke. 2002. (Others commissioned on major individual works by Johnson).Ìę
Selected Early Publications in brief
Miscellaneous Notes and Queries from late 1970s/early 1980s on poetic and critical sources of works by Dryden, Pope and Johnson; paper forÌęTransactions of the Johnson Society; various Introductions to reprinted facsimile editions of translations of French seventeenth-century critical works (includingÌęThe Art of Criticism, translated by âA Person of Qualityâ (1705), from DominiqueÌęBouhoursâÌęLa maniĂšre de bienÌępenserÌędans lesÌęouvragesÌędâespritÌę(New York, Scholarsâ Facsimiles, 1981), reprinted with new Introduction, pp. v-xvii, andÌęReflections on Aristotle's Treatise ofÌęPoesie, translated by Thomas Rymer (1674; London: Gregg International, 1979), reprinted, with new Introduction, 5-14). I am also the author of several professional and pedagogic publications for the Society for Research in Higher Education,ÌęTimes Educational SupplementÌęetc.Ìę
Recent Fellowships
2013: American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies/Andrew W. Mellon Research Fellowship, the Harry Ransom Humanities ResearchÌęCenter, Austin, Texas. To research Popeâs Chaucer.Ìę
Media Work
Editorial board of Eighteenth-Century Life.
Reviews for The Times Higher Educational Supplement.
Published correspondence in The New Statesman: Letter of the Week âThe Value of the Humanities,â NS, 19-25 January 2024; Letter of the Week: â(Boris) Johnsonâs Simulacrum of Seriousness,â NS, 19-25 November, 2021; âLessons of Historyâ (on Hitlerâs long shadow and R.G. Collingwoodâs âMan Goes Madâ), NS, 6-12 September 2019; âMonumental Timesâ (on the pulling down of the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol), NS 19-25 June, 2020; âPopeâs Preludeâ (on errors in Kathleen Jamieâs review of Jonathan Bateâs Radical Wordsworth), NS, 1-7 May, 2020; Letter of the Week âThe Human Cost of War,â NS, 16 December 2017.
Work With Industry
From 1990 I held a Civil Aviation Authority Basic Commercial Pilotâs Licence and an Assistant Instructorâs Rating (now lapsed).
Links and Social Media
- '', a new blog by Philip Smallwood, author of THE LITERARY CRITICISM OF SAMUEL JOHNSON