2-696-824 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Dr. Johnson in the Ante-Room of Lord Chesterifeld, Waiting for an Audience, 1748', (1845), (c1950). Painting in the Tate Gallery, London. 'The Great Cham is seen in an unwelcome role: waiting for an interview with his patron, Lord Chesterfield, Secretary of State, who is seen through the far door. Such experiences of much hated servility casued him to give in his famous Dictionary the definition of a Patron as: Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is paid with flattery.' 'Cham', an old form of khan, was meant to suggest that Johnson ruled over the realm of letters like an oriental despot. From The Outline of Literature, edited by John Drinkwater. [George Newnes Limited, London, c1950]