GRUBSTREET - The name of a street near Moorsfield, London, much inhabited by writers of small histories, dictionaries, and temporary poems.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Johnson describes GRUBSTREET as a London street near Moorsfield, populated by writers of minor histories, dictionaries, and fleeting poems.
- In plain terms
- A street known for modest literary activity.
- What can you take from it?
- Even small literary circles create cultural texture.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What value do minor literary works add to culture?
- How does place influence literary output?
Another view
The description is vague and may romanticize the area.
More from Samuel Johnson
EXCISE - A hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid.
Permalink to quote #65 LEXICOGRAPHER - A writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge.
Permalink to quote #67 ESSAY - A loose sally of the mind; an irregular indigested piece; not a regular and orderly composition.
Permalink to quote #64
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