Hester Lynch Piozzi's fame and notoriety as a friend of Samuel Johnson have often obscured her own literary achievements and her considerable contemporary success in publishing. The trusted confidante...
Read more
Although she was a prolific and versatile writer, Hester Lynch [Thrale] Piozzi is remembered primarily for being a friend of Samuel Johnson and for the scathing portrayal of her which James Boswell wr...
Read more
In the excerpt below, the critic comments on Piozzi's Retrospection, finding fault with her grammar and her lack of a "regular series of dates. "
Cicero somewhere observes ...
Read more
In the following excerpt, Spacks focuses on Piozzi's Thraliana and concludes that the work's literary merit "is its vivid revelation of a woman's psychology. "
Th...
Read more
In the following excerpt, the critics present a portrait of Piozzi's character based on her letters and diaries.
Often too quick to take offence, Mrs. Piozzi never suffered from an excess of...
Read more
In the essay below, Brownley examines the relationship between Piozzi and Samuel Johnson.
In English literary history, the later eighteenth century is known as the Age of Johnson, after Samuel John...
Read more
In the following excerpt, McCarthy discusses Piozzi's Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson, LL.D. and compares the book with James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson.
A transition from...
Read more
In the following essay, McCarthy discusses Piozzi's stature among literary scholars and remarks on the revival of interest in her works as fueled by feminist criticism.
Let me introduce my s...
Read more
In the following excerpt from a collection of her diaries and letters, Burney (Madame D'Arblay) comments on Piozzi's character and compares her to Madame de Staël Holstein.
I h...
Read more
In the following excerpt, the anonymous critic comments on Piozzi's character, focusing in particular on her "animated manner" and her "charm" as the mistress of Str...
Read more
In the excerpt below, Saintsbury comments on Piozzi's character and her skills as a letter writer and diarist.
The century is deservedly famous for letters, memoirs, and all the other more o...
Read more
In the following excerpt, Meynell remarks on Piozzi's marriages, social life, and literary style, finding that she had "all the interest belonging of right to a woman altogether of her t...
Read more
In the excerpt below, Roberts provides an overview of Piozzi's writings.
At an early age, Hester Salusbury had an itch for writing:
It was then, too, when I was about thirteen, fourteen,...
Read more
In the following essay, Clifford discusses the content and style of Piozzi's letters, concluding that "few can read her letters without gaining an intimate knowledge of the woman herself...
Read more
In the following essay, Barrows remarks on the relevancy of Observations and Reflections Made in the Course of a Journey through France, Italy, and Germany to modern readers, noting Piozzi's st...
Read more
In the following excerpt, Sherbo discusses Piozzi's biography of Johnson and the circumstances of its publication.
As early as 1768 when Johnson advised her to 'get a little Book�...
Read more
Hester Lynch (Thrale) Piozzi
Critical Review by The London Review and Literary Journal
