The Yale Edition of the Works of Samuel Johnson, Volume XVII

"This volume is the first scholarly edition of Samuel Johnson's translation of Jean Pierre de Crousaz's Commentaire sur la traduction en vers de M. Abbe Du Resnel, de l'Essai de M. Pope sur l'homme, published in 1739. Included are notes comparing Johnson's translation with the French original to show his method of translation and historical annotations." "Of special interest are several lengthy footnotes that Johnson added to his translation. Among these are thoughts on the dominance of the passion of love on the stage and critical ideas on translation and the nature of English and French poetry." "The most important notes, however, relate to the problem of evil, particularly the ruling passion and the necessity of free will. From these scattered observations it is clear that Johnson comes down firmly on the side of orthodoxy, believing that God created man for happiness but that both physical and moral evil entered the world because of Original Sin and, hence, that many of the miseries of life are mankind's own fault. Many of the ideas first given expression here were to occupy Johnson's mind for the remainder of his life."--Jacket.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Philosophy. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.