The works of Samuel Johnson, whom many consider the father of English criticism, are themselves the object of thousands of pages of critical commentary and analysis. Edward Tomarken's study traces and analyses the past two and a half centuries of commentary on selected Johnsonian works: The early biographies and the life of Savage (1744); The nondramatic poems, particularly 'London' (1738) and 'The Vanity of Human Wishes' (1749); His play Irene (1749); The periodical essays, particularly in the Rambler (1750-52); Rasselas (1759); Shakespearean criticism (1765); The Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1775); and The Lives of the Poets(1779-81).