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The Dr Johnson Library

The Dr Johnson Library

Written by: Samuel Johnson
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In The Dr Johnson Library, the works of Samuel Johnson are restored to the ear: essays, poems, tales, criticism, and meditations on the frailty and dignity of mankind. Here the listener may accompany a mind grave without gloom, learned without pedantry, and moral without cant; a companion for hours of solitude, study, reflection, and honest amusement.Public domain
Episodes
  • A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland - Inverness

    A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland - Inverness
    Aug 16 2026
    In which the city of Inverness reveals itself as a boundary between the cultivated English lowlands and the rugged Highland solitudes, marked by a mingling of languages and manners, and a history touched by conquest and culture alike. Here, the traveller prepares to forsake the ease of carriage for the harsher realities of mountainous roads, reflecting on the contrast between refined literature and neglected practical arts among the Scots.
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    7 mins
  • A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland - Bamff, Elgin, Fores. Calder. Fort George

    A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland - Bamff, Elgin, Fores. Calder. Fort George
    Aug 12 2026
    In which the traveller observes with quiet reflection the peculiarities of Scottish domestic architecture and the humble inconveniences of daily life, before journeying through towns marked by the slow decay of ancient splendour and the modest stirrings of renewed commerce. The route then leads to the threshold of the Highlands, where famed sites and fortifications are visited with courteous kindness, revealing the contrasts of history and modernity amid the rugged landscape.
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    14 mins
  • A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland - Slanes Castle, the Buller of Buchan

    A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland - Slanes Castle, the Buller of Buchan
    Aug 8 2026
    In which the author visits Slanes Castle, admiring its dramatic situation beside the sea and reflecting on the tempestuous grandeur of the ocean visible from its windows, before being guided to the remarkable natural curiosities of Dun Buy and the Buller of Buchan. These striking geological features, replete with sea-fowl, dark caverns, and ancient associations, are explored with a mixture of awe and circumspect wonder, while the surrounding cultivated land reveals a landscape largely devoid of mature trees or herds.
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    6 mins
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