Marking 250 years since publication of Johnson’s The Plays of William Shakespeare

From 7th - 9th August 2015 some 80 scholars and enthusiasts of the work of Samuel Johnson gathered at his alma mater, here in Pembroke, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the publication of his edition of Shakespeare’s works.

The weekend conference included a series of lectures and talks appraising Johnson’s success as a critic and textual editor by revisiting established contexts and exploring new ones.  Speakers included Jenny Davidson, Joseph Roach, Henry Woudhuysen, and Pembroke’s own Professor of English Lynda Mugglestone.

During the conference, attendees and members of the public were invited to explore the treasures of Pembroke’s Johnson collection – including handwritten letters and notes, records of his time as a student here, first editions of his ground-breaking dictionary and other memorabilia.  The special exhibition also featured volumes of Warburton’s Shakespeare which had belonged to Johnson and bear his original marginalia – on loan by kind permission of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.

Delegates were also treated to a concert of Shakespearean music, an informal and entertaining reading of Johnson’s play Irene, and the chance to visit the newly refurbished room in College which had been home to Johnson as an undergraduate. The College is very grateful to Judith Scheide and her late husband, William, for generously funding this renovation.

Mrs Scheide was also delighted to visit the seminar room in the Samuel Johnson Building, now re-named at her request, and in recognition of her generosity in making refurbishment of the Samuel Johnson Room possible, after her late university English literature professor and another Johnson-lover, Samuel Holt Monk.