Dr Samuel Johnson’s Birthplace Museum and Library

The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum offers fun and inspiring primary visits and outreach sessions covering literacy, history and more. Meet Kitty and Lucy the family servants, find out how books are made with Michael Johnson, handle original objects, dress up as a Georgian, join Hodge's Alphabet Hunt and make your own Dictionary! You could also make a day of it in historic Lichfield by combining a visit to us with Erasmus Darwin House.

The museum opened in 1901 and is dedicated to the life and works of the author and lexicographer Dr Samuel Johnson who wrote the first authoritative Dictionary of the English Language. Johnson's father built the house in 1707 and Samuel was born in the house on 18 September 1709 and spent the majority of his first 27 years in the house before leaving for London in 1737. The house was used as a commercial property for various trades between the time of Johnson's death in 1784 until the house was bought for the city by John Gilbert in 1900 for the purpose of retaining the building as a museum to Johnson.

A Grade I listed building, the museum currently contains a varied mix of displays, reconstructed rooms and audio-visual media. Visitors are taken through the colourful life and major achievements of Lichfield's most famous son, from troubled childhood, through literary obscurity and financial poverty, to world renown and success. The collection includes prints and paintings, furniture, manuscripts and books: including many early and rare editions of Johnson's work.

The book collection has largely been obtained through two major donations, now housed in the libraries named after their donors: the Hay Hunter and Blum Libraries, and the Wood library contains a further 2,000 volumes. Personal items include Johnson's armchair, tea set, breakfast table and portable writing desk, David Garrick's walking stick and a bookcase belonging to James Boswell.

Education

We offer a popular, hands-on Language Change session for KS5, please contact us for further details.