Johnson's "Life of Admiral Blake" and the Development of a Biographical Technique

Abstract

The Life of Admiral Blake (1740), whose subject is Robert Blake (1598-1657), Oliver Cromwell's victorious admiral and general at sea, has received little attention from scholars. During the eighteenth century the work had some popularity. Johnson thought enough of it to make a few verbal improvements when the gathering in the Gentleman's Magazine containing the biography was reprinted. In fact the favorable response to Johnson's Life suggested to Edward Cave that it was worth reprinting as a separate pamphlet in late 1740. If Blake's achievements could provide inspiration during the War of Jenkins's Ear, they might do the same during the Seven Years War, and the Life was reprinted in the London Chronicle, August 13-20, 1757. Although the initial interest in the Life of Blake must have been due in large measure to its attack on Sir Robert Walpole's administration, this particular political content quickly lost significance with his resignation in February 1742. When the Life of Blake, along with the Life of Sir Francis Drake, was added in 1767 to the Third edition of the Life of Richard Savage, it suggested that Blake, with the assistance of Johnson, had attained the status of a national hero worthy of emulation, a position that Drake held for almost two centuries. This collection was reprinted in 1777, and the Life of Blake was included in the first collected edition of Johnson's works in 1787.1