Professor Philip Smallwood
Philip Smallwood, BA (Oxon), M.Phil (Oxon), Ph.D. (London), is Emeritus Professor of English at 探花直播 and at different times Honorary Visiting Fellow and Honorary Senior Teaching Associate 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: Pope鈥檚 鈥淓ssay on Criticism鈥 and the Logic of Definition (2003) and in 2004 there appeared his widely-reviewed study of Johnson鈥檚 criticism and historical thought, Johnson鈥檚 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David Boucher, for Oxford University Press, of R.G. Collingwood鈥檚 Philosophy of Enchantment, an edition of previously unpublished material on the European folktale, with other cultural and critical essays.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, Professor Smallwood has completed a new monograph for Cambridge University Press entitled The Literary Criticism of Samuel Johnson: Forms of Artistry and Thought.
Several of Professor Smallwood鈥檚 volumes have been the subject of positive reviews in the Times Literary Supplement while both Johnson鈥檚 Critical Presence and Ridiculous Critics have won Choice American Library Association awards as 鈥Outstanding Academic Titles鈥 for the years 2005 and 2015 respectively.
Professor Smallwood has lectured in Britain, the USA, China and New Zealand; he has been awarded Visiting Research Fellowships at the Lewis Walpole Library of Yale University (2000), the School of Advanced Studies, London University (2000), St. John鈥檚 College, Oxford University (2003), and was Andrew Mellon/American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Research Fellow at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas (2013).
From 2010 Professor Smallwood has been Honorary Visiting Fellow, Senior Associate Teacher and then Senior Honorary Teaching Associate in the Department of English, Bristol University. He is a former Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, an Arts and Humanities Research Board and British Academy award holder, 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. He 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.
Smallwood tutored for St. Catherine鈥檚 College, Oxford while a graduate student at Lincoln College, was appointed to the Department of English and Foreign Languages at 探花直播 Polytechnic as Lecturer in English in 1976, and then Senior Lecturer in English. He was appointed to a Chair in English at BCU in 1992 and was Head of the School of English at BCU from 1990 to 1997. From 1991-1993 (as the University鈥檚 nominee) he was 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, Professor Smallwood gave the Richard Thrale Memorial Lecture on 鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Compassion鈥 and an address in Westminster Abbey prior to laying a wreath on the tomb of Samuel Johnson.
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 (King鈥檚 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
Research
The poetry and criticism of Alexander Pope; Samuel Johnson; the philosophy of R.G. Collingwood.
Publications
Philip Smallwood - Classified List of Publications, Lectures, Papers and Presentations.
Books
The Literary Criticism of Samuel Johnson: Forms of Artistry and Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023). Monograph. 219pp.
See also 鈥淐riteria of the Heart: Dr. Johnson at the Travelodge,鈥
.
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. Choice American Library Association 鈥極utstanding Academic Title鈥 Award 2015.
Associate Editor, 鈥楥riticism and Culture鈥, Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Eighteenth-Century Literature, 3 vols. (Oxford: Blackwell, 2014).
Critical Occasions: Dryden, Pope, Johnson, and the History of Criticism (New York, AMS Press, 2011). Monograph,169pp.
Samuel Johnson After 300 Years, ed. Philip Smallwood and Greg Clingham. Edited volume (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 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.
Johnson鈥檚 Critical Presence: Image, History, Judgment (London: Routledge, 2004), 180pp. Choice American Library Association 鈥極utstanding Academic Title鈥 Award 2005.
Reconstructing Criticism: Pope鈥檚 鈥楨ssay on Criticism鈥 and the Logic of Definition (Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2003). Monograph, 225pp.
Johnson Re-Visioned: Looking Before and After (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 Critics (St. Martin鈥檚 Press: London and New York, 1990). Monograph, 259 pp.
The Johnson Quotation Book (Bristol Classical Press: Bristol, 1989). Based on the collection of Chartres Biron. Edition, with new Introduction, 151 pp.
Samuel Johnson鈥檚 Preface to Shakespeare (1778 edn.; Bristol Classical Press: Bristol, 1985). Edition, with Introduction and Commentary, 185 pp. The most fully annotated edition of Johnson鈥檚 Preface to date.
A Concise Chronology of English Literature (Croom Helm: London, 1985). Compendium, with Introduction, 220 pp.
Essays/Chapters in Books
鈥淔airy Tales, Madness and Total War,鈥 R.G. Collingwood special issue of Human Affairs, ed. David Collins and Stephen Leach, forthcoming Summer 2024. (4,000 word essay).
鈥淎lexander Pope,鈥 The Oxford History of Poetry in English, Vol. 6: Eighteenth-Century British Poetry, ed. Christine Gerrard and Corrina Readioff (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 10,000-word essay, forthcoming 2025).聽
鈥淐ritical Friendships in the Lives of the Poets,鈥 Samuel Johnson and the Powers of Friendship, ed. Daniel Derrin, Dani Napton and Anthony Cousins (London: Routledge, forthcoming 2023).
鈥楥owley鈥檚 Singularity: Pindarique Odes and Johnsonian Values,鈥 in Abraham 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, forthcoming 2023).
鈥楯ohnson and Stendhal: a French Critical Connection,鈥 The Spirit of Every Place: Howard Weinbrot and the Precincts of Enlightenment, ed. Kevin Cope (Lehigh University Press, forthcoming 2023). (8,000 word essay.)
鈥Beatus Ille: Pope and the Mythos of Retirement,鈥 in Pope'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.)
鈥楨尘辞迟颈辞苍鈥, The Oxford Handbook of Samuel Johnson, ed. Jack Lynch (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022), 599-616 (8,000-word essay).
鈥楯ohnson and the Essay鈥, in The New Cambridge Companion to Samuel Johnson, ed. Greg Clingham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023), 27-40. (5,500 word essay).
鈥楳irrored Minds: Johnson and Shakespeare,鈥 in A 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).
鈥楲iterary and Aesthetic Theory鈥, The Cambridge Companion to Eighteenth-Century Thought, ed. Frans de Bruyn (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021), pp. 205-26 (8,000 word essay).
鈥楶ope鈥檚 Precocious Decade: Models of Literary History for the Age of Queen Anne鈥, in Alexander Pope in the Time of Queen Anne, ed. Tony Cousins and Daniel Derrin (London: Routledge, 2020), 60-76 (8,000-word essay).
鈥楾ension, Contraries, and Blake鈥檚 Augustan Values鈥, in Paper, 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).
鈥楽hakespeare, Montaigne, and Philosophical Anti-Philosophy鈥, Shakespeare and Philosophy, ed. Craig Bourne and Emily Caddick Bourne (London: Routledge, 2019), 77-87 (6,000-word essay).
鈥楯ohnson on Truth, Fiction and 鈥淯ndisputed History,鈥濃 The 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 Scholars鈥 Publishing, 2018), 198-212 (6,000-word essay).
鈥楬颈蝉迟辞谤颈别蝉鈥, Oxford Handbook of British Poetry, 1660-1800, ed. Jack Lynch (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), 701-15 (8,000 word essay)
鈥楪reat Anna鈥檚 Chaucer, Pope鈥檚 January and May and the Logic of Settlement鈥, Queen Anne and the Arts, ed. Cedric D. Reverand II (Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2014), 99-117 (8,000 word essay)
鈥楻.G. Collingwood鈥檚 Autobiography as Literature鈥, chapter 10 of An Autobiography and Other Writings, with essays on Collingwood鈥檚 Life and Work, ed. David Boucher and Teresa Smith (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 427-45.
鈥楯ohnson and Time鈥, Samuel Johnson: the Arc of the Pendulum, ed. Freya Johnston and Lynda Mugglestone (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 11-23.
鈥楺uestioning Nature: Dryden鈥檚 Fables, Ancient and Modern,鈥 Teaching Dryden, ed. Lisa Zunshine and Jayne Lewis (PMLA, 2013). (2,500-word essay)
鈥楾he Classical Critics鈥, Oxford History of Classical Reception in English Literature, vol 3: 1660-1790, ed. David Hopkins and Charles Martindale (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 361-400.
鈥楽hakespeare and Philosophy鈥, Shakespeare and the Eighteenth Century, ed. Peter Sabor and Fiona Ritchie (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), 331-48.
鈥楲iterary Criticism鈥, Samuel Johnson in Context, ed. Jack Lynch (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), 234-42.
鈥樷淒ead Keen on Reason鈥: Critical Approaches to Eighteenth-Century Studies鈥, The Eighteenth Century Literature Handbook, ed. Gary Day and Bridget Keegan (London: Continuum, 2009), 145-67.
鈥楯ohnson, the Arts, and the Idea of Art鈥, essay for Samuel Johnson After 300 Years, ed. Greg Clingham and Philip Smallwood (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 164-85.
(With Greg Clingham) 鈥楯ohnson Now and In Time鈥, introductory essay for Samuel Johnson After 300 Years, ed. Greg Clingham and Philip Smallwood (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 1-14.
Introduction to my edited special feature on 鈥楥ritical Voices: Humor, Irony and Passion in the Literary Critics of the Long Eighteenth Century鈥, for 1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era, gen. ed. Kevin Cope, vol. 15 (2008), 184-88.
鈥榁oice and Laughter in Johnson鈥檚 Criticism鈥, 293-314. In the above special feature.
鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Criticism and Critical Global Studies鈥, The Age of Johnson, vol. 18 (Paul Korshin Memorial volume, 2007), 151-165.
鈥楾he French Critics鈥. The 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), 鈥楤ritish Theory and Criticism 5: 1900 and After鈥, The 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.
鈥樷淭o Value Still the True鈥: Pope鈥檚 Essay on Criticism and the Problem of the Historical Mode鈥, in Critical Pasts: Writing Criticism, Writing History (Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2004), 75-94.
鈥業ntroduction: Problems and Paradoxes in the History of Criticism鈥, Critical Pasts: Writing Criticism, Writing History (Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2004), 1-11.
鈥楧ryden, Critical Judgment and the History of Criticism鈥, in Dryden and the World of Neoclassicism, ed. Wolfgang G枚rtschacher and Holger Klein (Tubingen: Stauffenburg-Verl., 2001), (Studies in English and Comparative Literature, 17), 27-39.
鈥業ronies of the Critical Past: Historicizing Johnson鈥檚 Criticism鈥 in Johnson Re-Visioned: Looking Before and After (Lewisburg and London: Bucknell University Press/Associated University Press, 2001), 114-133.
鈥楩rom Illusion to Reality: R.G. Collingwood and the Fictional Art of Jane Austen鈥, Collingwood Studies, 4: Variations: Themes from the Manuscripts, ed. David Boucher and Bruce Haddock (University of Wales College, Swansea: Collingwood Society, 1998), 71-100.
鈥楽hakespeare: Johnson鈥檚 Poet of Nature鈥, The Cambridge Companion to Samuel Johnson, ed. Greg Clingham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 143-160. From a review in The Year鈥檚 Work in English Studies (1997), 453: 鈥楩red Parker, Philip Smallwood, Paul Korshin and Robert DeMaria masterfully discuss Rasselas, the Preface to Shakespeare, The Rambler and the Dictionary鈥.
Journal Articles (from 1996)
鈥楨ncounters with Johnson: Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia鈥, The Johnson Society of Lichfield, Transactions, 2022, 63-69.聽
鈥Rasselas鈥, 鈥楨ncounters with Johnson鈥, The Johnson Society (of Lichfield, Transactions, 2022.
鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Compassion鈥, The New Rambler: Journal of the Johnson Society of London (2018-2019), 36-53.
鈥極n Being Johnsonian In Beijing鈥, Johnsonian News Letter Vol. LXXI, no. 2 (September 2020), 49-53.
鈥Petty Caviller or 鈥淔ormidable Assailant鈥: Johnson Reads Dennis鈥, The Cambridge Quarterly, Vol. 46, no. 4 (Dec. 2017) 305-24.
鈥楾wo Ways of Being Wise: Shakespeare and the Johnsonian Montaigne鈥, Poetica (Tokyo) 84 (2015), 55-76.
鈥楳ajesty and the Arts: Queen Anne鈥檚 Cultural Revolution鈥, Eighteenth-Century Life 39: 2 (April 2015), 66-70.聽
鈥楴ot the History of Ideas: Laughter, Music and Metaphor in Pope鈥檚 Definition of Criticism鈥, for special feature on 鈥榤etaphor鈥 for 1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era (2011), ed. Mark Pedreira. (7,000-word essay)
鈥楢nnotated Immortality: Lonsdale鈥檚 Johnson鈥, Eighteenth-Century Life, 31:3 (2007), 76-84.
鈥楲iterary Histories Old and New鈥, The Age of Johnson, vol. 18, (2007), 363-69.
鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Criticism and the Passage of Theory鈥, The New Rambler: the Journal of the Johnson Society of London, 2003-2004, 3-11.
鈥楾he Johnsonian Monster and the Lives of the Poets: James Gillray, Critical History and the Eighteenth-Century Satirical Cartoon鈥, The British Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, 25, no. 2 (Autumn 2002), 217-45.
鈥樷淢ore Creative than Creation鈥: The Idea of Criticism and the Student Critic鈥, 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.
鈥樷淭he True Creative Mind鈥: R.G. Collingwood鈥檚 Critical Humanism鈥, The British Journal of Aesthetics, 41, no. 3 (July 2001), 293-311.
鈥楧ryden鈥檚 Criticism as Transfusion鈥, in Dryden tercentenary number of Translation and Literature (Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press, 2001), 78-88. Reviewed in The Scriblerian, 37 (2005), 27.
(With Tom Mason), 鈥業ntroducing the Long Eighteenth Century: Literary History and the New Pedagogy鈥, Cambridge Quarterly, 29, no. 3 (September 2000), 191-213.
鈥楬istorical Re-Construction, Literary Transmission and the Value of R.G. Collingwood鈥, Translation and Literature, 9:1 (Spring 2000), 3-24.
鈥樷淥utside the Academic Fold鈥: Criticism, Theorists and the Men of Letters鈥, English: The Journal of the English Association, 47 (Spring 1998), 1-12.
鈥楥riticism and the Meanings of 鈥淭heory鈥濃, British Journal of Aesthetics, 37, no. 4 (October 1997), 377-385.
鈥楥riticism, Valuation and Useful Purpose鈥, New Literary History, 28, no. 4 (鈥楶hilosophical Thoughts鈥, Autumn 1997), 711-722.
鈥楶roblems in the Definition of Criticism鈥, British Journal of Aesthetics, 36, no. 3 (July 1996), 252-264.
鈥楾he Definition of Criticism鈥, New Literary History, 27:3 (鈥楲iterary Subjects鈥, Summer 1996), 545-554.
Reviews and Review Essays (from 1998)
Review of Joseph Hone, Alexander Pope in the Making. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021. The Scriblerian, forthcoming, Spring, 2024.
鈥楻omantics De-Romanticised?鈥 Review of 鈥楪别苍颈补濒鈥 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.
鈥楥hoosing Johnson.鈥 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 2022, 76-82.
Review of Johnson in Japan (Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2021), The Johnsonian News Letter (September 2021), 57-61.
鈥楶ope Well-Noted鈥. 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.
Review of Anthony W. Lee, 鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 鈥淔rench Authors鈥: Rambler 5 and 87鈥, ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews (26 August, 2019). The Scriblerian (Fall 2020).
Review of Melvyn New and Robert G. Walker, 鈥溾楥urious Particulars鈥: The Will of Thomas Cumming, the Fighting Quaker,鈥 Johnsonian News Letter 70 (September 2019): 18-27. The Scriblerian (Fall 2020)
Reviews of Anthony W. Lee, 鈥淛ohnson, Statius, and the Classical Motto,鈥 Johnsonian News Letter, Volume LXIX, No. 1 (March 2018), 16-23; 鈥溾楪aping Heirs鈥: Line Forty-Eight of Samuel Johnson鈥檚 THE VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES,鈥 The Explicator (2017), vol. 75, no. 3, 160-65; 鈥溾楲ook, My Lord, It Comes鈥: Ghostly Silences in the Boswell/Johnson Archive,鈥 Notes and Queries (2017), 1-5. The Scriblerian, Vol. LII, no, 2 (Spring 2020),155-157.
Review of Anthony W. Lee (ed.) New Essays on Samuel Johnson: Revaluation (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2018), Notes & Queries (December 2019).
鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Works and the Hinterlands of Biography鈥, 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.
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.
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.
鈥楧efinitively Johnson?鈥 Review of The Yale Edition of Johnson鈥檚 Lives of the English Poets, The New Rambler (2010-2011), 81-90.
Review of Ruth Mack, Literary Historicity: Literature and Historical Experience in Eighteenth-Century Britain, Eighteenth-Century Studies, 2010.
Review of Fred Inglis, History Man: the Life of R.G. Collingwood, Times Higher Education Supplement 鈥楤ook of the Week鈥, 2010.
Review of Paul Davis, Translation and the Poet鈥檚 Life: the Ethics of Translating in English Culture, 1646-1726 for the Review of English Studies, Vol. 60, Issue 246 (September 2009), 653-654.
鈥楢 Polemicist鈥檚 Progress鈥, 鈥楤ook of the Week鈥, Review of Gary Day鈥檚 Literary Criticism: A New History, the Times Higher Education Supplement, 19th June, 2008.
Review of Freya Johnston, Samuel Johnson and the Art of Sinking, 1709-1791 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), The New Rambler, 2006-2007.
Review of Nicholas Hudson, Samuel Johnson and the Making of Modern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), The 18th Century: A Current Bibliography.
Reviews of new articles on Dryden鈥檚 translations for The Scriblerian, 36, no. 1 (Autumn 2003), 13 and 15-16.
鈥楨ngland鈥檚 Literature Restored?鈥 Review essay on A History of English Literature, by Michael Alexander, Essays in Criticism, 51, no. 4. (October 2001), 442-450.
Review of Eighteenth-Century Literary History, ed. Marshall Brown, Comparative Literature Studies, 37: 4 (2000), 442-48.
Review of Kevin Hart, Samuel Johnson and the Culture of Property, The New Rambler (1999-2000), 50-52.
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.
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.
Sponsored Guest Lectures by Special Invitation
2025
鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Life of Savage鈥, Macclesfield Lecture to the Melbourne Savage Club, 27th February 2025.
2024
鈥樷漃erpetually a poet鈥: Johnson鈥檚 Poetry in Prose and Verse鈥. Johnson Society of Lichfield Mary Baker Winter Lecture 21st January, 2024.
2023
鈥楯ohnson, Pope鈥檚 Iliad and Total War鈥. Johnson Club, Lincoln College, Oxford, 19th May, 2023.
2021
鈥楬appiness in Pope and Johnson鈥. Lecture, University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China, 17th December 2021.
鈥楯ohnson and the Essay鈥. Lecture to the Johnson Society of London, 13th February 2021.
2019
鈥楾he Poetic Precocity of Alexander Pope: 鈥渢he little Queen Anne鈥檚 Man鈥濃; 鈥鈥淎s a mother weeps over her babe.鈥 Samuel Johnson, Shakespeare and Emotion鈥; 鈥楪eneral Nature and the Humanity of the 鈥淟ives of the Poets鈥濃. Three lectures delivered at the University of the Chinese Academy of the Social Sciences, Beijing, China.
鈥楽amuel Johnson and the Rhythm of the Lives.鈥 Talk at Dr. Johnson鈥檚 House, Gough Square, London.
鈥業n his own words鈥擲amuel Johnson and the Life of Writing鈥. Address to the English Speaking Union, Bristol (with Pam Smallwood)
2018
鈥Dr Johnson and Mr Pope,鈥 talk at Dr Johnson鈥檚 House in aid of Pope鈥檚 grotto appeal.
鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Compassion鈥, Annual Wreath Laying at Westminster Abbey and Richard Thrale Memorial Lecture, Johnson Society of London, December 2018.
2016
鈥楾wo Comprehensive Minds: Samuel Johnson and William Shakespeare鈥, The Shakespeare Club, Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon, 8th November 2016.
鈥楾wo Ways of Being Wise: Shakespeare and the Johnsonian Montaigne鈥, Guest Lecture, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, April 2016.
2015
鈥樷滱s a mother weeps over her babe鈥: Johnson鈥檚 Shakespeare and the Truth of Feeling鈥, Guest Lecture, Johnson鈥檚 Shakespeare Festival, Dr Johnson鈥檚 House, Gough Square, London, September, 2015.
Contributor to Roundtable on Johnson鈥檚 Shakespeare Edition, Johnson鈥檚 Shakespeare Festival, Dr Johnson鈥檚 House, Gough Square, London, August, 2015.
2012
鈥楾heory and Practice in the History of Poetry鈥, A Lecture. Symposium on the Philosophy of History, Institute of Historical Research, University of London, March 2012.
2011
鈥楻. G. Collingwood and Literature鈥. Paper to the Symposium on the Philosophy of History, Institute of Historical Research, University of London, June 2011.
2010
鈥橨ohnson, Philosophy, and the Criticism of Shakespeare鈥, Invited address to the Spring 2010 meeting of the Johnson Club of Great Britain. At the invitation of the Secretary, Sir Malcolm Jack.
2009
鈥楽amuel Johnson and Time鈥. Inaugural lecture at the Samuel Johnson Tercentenary Conference, Pembroke College, Oxford University, at the invitation of the organisers, September 2009.
鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Criticism and the Reign of Historicism鈥. Houghton Library Johnson Tercentenary Symposium, Harvard University, August 2009.
鈥楾he Classical Critics鈥. 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
鈥楥ollingwood鈥檚 An Autobiography as Literature鈥. Invited lecture. University of Chichester, December 2008.
2007
鈥楯ohnson and the Idea of the Arts鈥. Invited lecture. Bucknell University. September 2007
2006
鈥楢 Question of Tone: Johnson鈥檚 Critical Voice on Shakespeare and the Poets鈥; talk, by invitation, at Dr Johnson鈥檚 House, London, November 2006.
鈥楳etaphor and Metamorphosis: Pope, Criticism and Critical History鈥, invited paper to the Research Seminar of the University of Northampton, January 2006.
2005
鈥榃hat Is a History of Criticism?鈥 Nottingham Trent University research seminar, invited paper, November 2005.
2004
鈥榃ays of Seeing and Ways of Reading: Literature, Critical History, and the Eighteenth-Century Satirical Caricature鈥, invited paper to the University of Oxford 鈥楻estoration to Reform鈥 Research Seminar, Mansfield College.
2003
鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Criticism and the Passage of Theory鈥. The Johnson Society of London, October 2003.
鈥榃hat Is a History of Criticism? The Limits of 鈥淩adicality鈥濃. Plenary address to the inaugural conference on 鈥楥riticism and Radicality鈥, Centre for Critical Practice, University of Central England, September 2003.
鈥樷淭o Value Still the True鈥: Pope鈥檚 Essay on Criticism, Reception Aesthetics and the Problem of Critical History鈥. Columbia University, New York, Eighteenth-Century European Culture Faculty Seminar, April 2003.
2002
鈥楩ather Beating, Holy Text and the History of Criticism鈥, colloquium on 鈥楳aking and Unmaking the Canon鈥, at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, April 2002.
2001
鈥楶oetical Justice, Natural Justice and the Death of Cordelia: Johnson on King Lear鈥, to the Ethics and Aesthetics Seminar, School of Advanced Study, Senate House, University of London, March 2001.
2000
鈥楥ritical Pasts鈥, Annual Churchill Lecture to the Department of English, University of Bristol (by invitation from the Head of Department).
1998
鈥榃riting History/Writing Criticism鈥, to the Departments of English and Philosophy, Bucknell Univ., Pennsylvania (by invitation from the National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of Humanities).
鈥楥ollingwood and Literary Criticism鈥, 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
鈥極n the Idea of Criticism鈥, Camille Hess Lecture: Department of English, University of Virginia (by invitation from the Editor of New Literary History).
1992
鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Critical Humanism鈥, Johnson Society of Lichfield Lecture.
Recent and Forthcoming International Conference Contributions
2024
鈥楢fter Guillory: Professing Johnson鈥檚 Criticism鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies,鈥 Toronto, March 2024.
鈥樷漃ere du romanticisme: Johnson and Stendhal,鈥 British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Oxford, January 2024.
2022
鈥楯ohnson and Friendship鈥 for the East Central American Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies, Wilmington, Delaware, October 2022.
2021
鈥楥owley鈥檚 Pindarics and Johnsonian Values鈥 for the panel The Unseen Abraham Cowley: Vast Bodies Unexplained, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Toronto, March 2021 (online conference).
2018
Session Chair: 鈥楾he Presence of the Past: John Dryden鈥檚 Translated Verse鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Orlando, Florida, March/April 2018.
鈥楶ope鈥檚 Precocious Decade,鈥 American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Orlando, Florida, March 2018.
2017
鈥楯ohnson on Truth and 鈥淯ndisputed History鈥 in Dryden and Pope鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Minneapolis, Minnesota, March/April 2017.
2016
鈥樷淧etty Caviller鈥 or 鈥淔ormidable Assailant鈥: Johnson Reads John Dennis鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 2016.
2015
鈥業mprobable Liaisons鈥擩ohnson鈥檚 Shakespeare, the Sum of Life and the Wisdom of Montaigne鈥, Conference in Celebration of the 250th anniversary of the publication of Johnson鈥檚 Shakespeare, Pembroke College, Oxford, August 2015.
鈥楲aughter at Critics Old and New鈥, Roundtable, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Los Angeles, California, March 2015.
鈥楯ohnson According to Leavis: Irony in Revolt鈥, British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Oxford, January 2015.
2013
鈥楾ensions, Contrarieties, and Blake鈥檚 Augustan Values鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Cleveland, Ohio, April 2013.
2011
鈥楻eaders Curious and Common: Johnson鈥檚 鈥淟ives鈥 and Warton鈥檚 鈥淗istory.鈥濃 International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Graz, Austria, July 2011. At the invitation of the panel coordinator for 鈥楥ritical Authority,鈥 Sabine Volk-Birke.
2010
鈥楾he Lives of the English Poets and Critical Modernity鈥, Roundtable, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Albuquerque, New Mexico, March 2010.
Organiser and Chair of panel on 鈥楥ritical History and Eighteenth-Century Philosophy鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Albuquerque, New Mexico, March 2010.
2009
Chair of panel, 鈥楽amuel Johnson and Europe鈥, Houghton Library Johnson Symposium, Harvard University, August 2009.
鈥楽amuel Johnson and the Theory of History鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Richmond, Virginia, March 2009.
Organiser of panel on 鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Shakespeare鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Richmond, Virginia, March 2009.
2008
鈥楯ohnson and the Arts鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Portland, Oregon, March 2008.
Organiser of panel on 鈥楯ohnson Imagined and Re-Imagined鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Portland, Oregon, March 2008.
2007
鈥楯ohnson and French Criticism鈥, International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Montpellier, France, July 2007.
鈥極n Re-Writing the History of Literary Criticism, 1660-1800鈥, Eighteenth-Century Narratives Conference, University of Exeter, April 2007.
鈥楾he Ignis Fatuus in Butler, Rochester, Dryden, and Johnson鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Atlanta, March 2007.
Organiser and chair of panel on 鈥楽atirical Attacks on Critics and Criticism in the Long Eighteenth Century鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Atlanta, March 2007.
鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Critical Tone鈥, British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Oxford, January 2007.
2006
鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Critical Satire鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Montreal, March 2006.
Organiser and chair of panel on 鈥楢lexander Pope and the Spirit of Criticism鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Montreal, March 2006.
鈥楧ryden, Literary Criticism and Comic Humanism鈥 for panel on 鈥楧ryden鈥檚 Comic Humanism鈥, British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Oxford, January 2006.
2005
Contributor to panel on R.G. Collingwood鈥檚 Philosophy of Enchantment, R.G. Collingwood Conference, Coniston, July 2005.
鈥楥ritical Friends and Critical Enemies: Johnson and Joseph Warton鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Las Vegas, Nevada, March 2005.
Organiser and chair of panel on 鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Criticism and the World of Theory鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Las Vegas, Nevada, March 2005.
2004
鈥楾he Tragic and Comic Narrative of Eighteenth-Century Literary Criticism鈥, conference on Eighteenth-Century Narratives, Exeter University, July 2004.
鈥楶ope, Criticism and Making it New鈥. American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Boston, March 2004.
Organiser and chair of panel: 鈥楾he Critical Muse: Poets as Critics in the Long Eighteenth Century鈥. American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Boston, March 2004.
2003
鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Criticism of Cowley鈥檚 Pindaric Odes: A Question of Judgment鈥. Northeastern Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Providence College, Rhode Island, 6th-9th November, 2003.
鈥楽amuel Johnson and the Globalization of Shakespeare鈥, International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Los Angeles, August, 2003.
鈥楨ighteenth-Century Literary History and the Satirical Caricature鈥, British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Oxford, Jan. 2003
2002
Organiser and chair of panel, 鈥樷滵ead Men Don鈥檛 Bite鈥: Historicity and Eighteenth-Century Literary Criticism鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Colorado Springs, April 2002.
鈥楽amuel Johnson鈥檚 Critical Comedy鈥, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Colorado Springs, April 2002.
鈥楽amuel Johnson and the Literary Canon鈥, British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, Cambridge, January 2002.
2001
鈥楯ohnson and Criticism After Theory鈥 (by invitation), North Eastern American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, Halifax, Nova Scotia, October/November 2001.
鈥樷淢otion without Progress鈥: Recovering Literary Criticism鈥, De Montfort University conference on 鈥楶ost-Theory鈥, September 2001.
鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Periodical Essays in Criticism鈥 at the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies conference, New Orleans, April 18th-22nd, 2001.
Organiser and chair of panel on 鈥樷淭he Muse鈥檚 Handmaid鈥?: The Idea of Criticism in the Eighteenth Century鈥, at the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies conference, New Orleans, April 18th-22nd, 2001.
鈥極n Writing the History of Eighteenth-Century Criticism: An Allusion to R.S. Crane鈥 (by invitation) at the North Eastern Modern Language Association of America conference, Hartford, Connecticut, 30th-31st March, 2001.
2000
鈥樷淭he True Creative Mind鈥: R.G. Collingwood and the Traditions of Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism鈥 at the conference on British Idealism at the Millennium, The Collingwood and British Idealism Centre, Cardiff University, 14th-16th December, 2000.
鈥楧ryden鈥檚 Critical Transfusions鈥 (by invitation of the organizers) to the Tercentenary Conference on 鈥楯ohn Dryden (1631-1700): Poet, Classicist, Translator鈥, Department of English/Department of Classics/Centre for the Classical Tradition, University of Bristol, July, 2000.
鈥楾he Culturalization of Eighteenth-Century Studies鈥 (as member of panel chaired by Professor Jill Campbell [Yale University] on 鈥楾he Category of 鈥淟iterature鈥 in Literary Studies Today: Beliefs and Methodologies鈥 at the annual conference of the American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, Philadelphia, April 2000).
Organiser and chair of panel on 鈥楯辞丑苍蝉辞苍鈥檚 Critical Judgments Today鈥 at the annual conference of the American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, Philadelphia, April 2000.
1999
鈥楬istoricizing Johnson鈥檚 Criticism鈥 (as panel member for 鈥楯ohnson at the Millennium: Looking Before and After鈥, the 10th International Congress on the Enlightenment, Dublin, July 1999).
鈥業ntroducing the Eighteenth Century: 鈥淪mug Men鈥 and 鈥淭ight Little Couplets鈥濃, delivered at the annual conference of the British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, Oxford, January 1999.
1998
鈥楯ohnson, Cowley and Such Gaiety of Fancy鈥, to the Annual Conference of the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Oxford, January 1998.
1997
鈥榃hat Criticism Is: Reflections on the Present Tense of the Verb 鈥淭o Be鈥濃, keynote lecture at conference on 鈥楥riticism and its Temporalities鈥, University of Kent, July 1997.
鈥業n Defence of Judgment: Samuel Johnson and the Idea of Criticism鈥, to the Annual Meeting of the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Oxford, January 1997.
1996
鈥楢lexander Pope and the Definition of Criticism鈥 to the Annual Convention of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, University of Texas, Austin, March/April 1996.
Recent Performances
鈥楴ow and in Time鈥: 探花直播 celebrates the tercentenary of the birth of Samuel Johnson, October 20th, 2009, Recital Hall, 探花直播 Conservatoire, readings presented in collaboration with the 探花直播 Book Festival.
Online publications
鈥楾he Life of Samuel Johnson鈥 in The Literary聽Dictionary (on-line edition) ed. Robert Clarke. 2002. (Others commissioned on major individual works by Johnson).
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 for Transactions of the Johnson Society; various Introductions to reprinted facsimile editions of translations of French seventeenth-century critical works (including The Art of Criticism, translated by 鈥楢 Person of Quality鈥 (1705), from Dominique Bouhours鈥 La mani猫re de bien penser dans les ouvrages d鈥檈sprit (New York, Scholars鈥 Facsimiles, 1981), reprinted with new Introduction, pp. v-xvii, and Reflections on Aristotle's Treatise of Poesie, 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, Times Educational Supplement etc.
Recent Fellowships
2013: American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies/Andrew W. Mellon Research Fellowship, the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, Austin, Texas. To research Pope鈥檚 Chaucer.
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 鈥淭he Value of the Humanities,鈥 NS, 19-25 January 2024; Letter of the Week: 鈥(Boris) Johnson鈥檚 Simulacrum of Seriousness,鈥 NS, 19-25 November, 2021; 鈥淟essons of History鈥 (on Hitler鈥檚 long shadow and R.G. Collingwood鈥檚 鈥淢an Goes Mad鈥), NS, 6-12 September 2019; 鈥淢onumental Times鈥 (on the pulling down of the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol), NS 19-25 June, 2020; 鈥淧ope鈥檚 Prelude鈥 (on errors in Kathleen Jamie鈥檚 review of Jonathan Bate鈥檚 Radical Wordsworth), NS, 1-7 May, 2020; Letter of the Week 鈥淭he Human Cost of War,鈥 NS, 16 December 2017.
Links and Social Media
- '', a new blog by Philip Smallwood, author of THE LITERARY CRITICISM OF SAMUEL JOHNSON