Bidspirit auction | Thomas Trotter Engraving Samuel Johnson

Thomas Trotter Engraving Samuel Johnson - Thomas Trotter (British, 1750-1803). Engraving, Samuel Johnson. Full-length portrait of the English lexicographer in profile, wearing characteristic 18th-century attire and leaning on a walking stick. The work is executed with fine-line hatching and cross-hatching. Inscribed Sam: Johnson. in script at the lower right. The trimmed print is mounted to a brown card with a metal clip. Sheet: 9 1/8 x 6 in. Samuel Johnson, the great man of words and wit of eighteenth-century London, was a lifelong fascination of Peter’s. He read Johnson and Boswell by the volume and kept five typewritten pages of Johnson’s sayings close at hand. These two portraits of Johnson hung in his home. See also the Johnson and Boswell books in Lot 92. From the personal collection of Peter Benchley (American, 1940–2006), acclaimed author of Jaws, accomplished diver, and prominent advocate for ocean and shark conservation.