News

Four visitors exploring a warmly lit library room with tall windows, yellow curtains, and glass-fronted bookcases filled with old volumes.

Seasonal Sundays

Dr Johnson's House is open on selected Sundays 12pm - 4pm until December! Sun 19 & 26 Oct, Sun 9 & 29 Nov, and Sun 7 Dec 2025

An 18th-century satirical print showing a soldier arm-in-arm with two fashionably dressed women on a street at night. A boy tugs at the soldier’s coat, while another man lurks behind. A woman leans from a window above a doorway marked “WINES,” smiling knowingly. Titled An Evening’s Invitation; with a Wink from the Bagnio.

Gentlemen’s Relish: Prostitution in the Georgian Era

Tuesday 28 October, 12.30 - 1.30pm. £3.96 (booking required). Explore prostitution in Georgian Britain - a tale of winners and losers, humour and despair.

Museum Lates at Dr Johnson's House

Thursday 23 Oct, 5.30pm - 7pm. £14 / 2 FOR £20. Step back in time to 1700s London with an evening visit home of Dr Johnson, who famously said, '...when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life'.

New House of Words Update

Welcome to the most recent House of Words Update featuring news about exciting developments and future plans at Dr Johnson's House.

Amorous or Loving?: The Highly Peculiar Tale of English and the English

Wednesday 15 October, 6 - 8pm. £22.50. Hear Sir Rupert Gavin chart English’s extraordinary path to becoming the most global language today spoken by 1.6 billion all over the world.

Dr Johnson's House - Walk & Visit

Wednesday 15 October. 1pm - 3pm. £20. Take a fascinating walk through the heart of literary London and visit the home of its most famous resident writer, Dr Samuel Johnson.

Gin & Georgian London: A Spirited Evening

Thursday 9 October, 6pm - 8pm. £29.95. Enjoy gin, history, and tasting at Dr Johnson’s House!

a bronze statue of Samuel Johnson on a stone plinth in front of an old stone church, with trees and city buildings in the background.

Dr Johnson's House - Christmas Walk & Visit

Wednesday 12 November. 1pm - 3pm. £20. Take a fascinating walk through the heart of literary London and visit the festively decorated home of Dr Samuel Johnson.

Christmas wreath with red baubles on a dark door with knocker.

Christmas Lates at Dr Johnson's House

Thursday 20 Nov, 5.30pm - 7pm. £14. Step Back in Time this Christmas! Celebrate the magic of Christmas at Dr Johnson’s enchanting historic house!

Christmas Lates at Dr Johnson's House

Thursday 4 Dec, 5.30pm - 7pm. £14. Step Back in Time this Christmas! Celebrate the magic of Christmas at Dr Johnson’s enchanting historic house!

Dr Johnson's House - Christmas Walk & Visit

Wednesday 10 December. 1pm - 3pm. £20. Take a fascinating walk through the heart of literary London and visit the festively decorated home of Dr Samuel Johnson.

A late 19th-century painting of Fleet Street by Ernest George (1886), showing narrow gabled buildings with overhanging upper floors. Signs for newspapers and periodicals, including News of the World and The Artist, are visible on the façades. A figure in red stands on a small balcony, with the tower of a church in the background.

Fleet Street: A Stroll Down the Street of Shame

Tuesday 30 September, 12.30 - 1.30pm. £3.96 (booking required). Join Sophie Campbell to learn about the history of Fleet Street, the boisterously beating heart of the British newspaper industry.

Interior of Dr Johnson’s House with wooden floors, green walls, and sash windows. A staircase with white banisters is visible through open doors on the left, while on the right a dining area is furnished with a dark wooden table, ladder-back chairs, a fireplace, portraits, and a chandelier. A patterned rug lies beneath the table.

Open House Festival 2025

We are taking part in this year's Open House Festival. Sat 13, Sun 14, Sat 20 & Sun 21 September 2025 from 11am - 5pm.

Close-up photograph of the spines of antique leather-bound books, prominently featuring two volumes of Johnson’s Dictionary with ornate gold tooling and black title labels. The aged leather shows wear and texture, evoking a sense of historical richness and scholarly tradition.

Johnson as a Lexicographer: Getting His Just Deserts—Bryan A. Garner

Monday 15 September, 6 - 8pm. £25. Was Johnson truly the father of the English dictionary? Bryan A. Garner explores the evidence in this thought-provoking talk.

Sex & the 18th-Century City (and Dr Johnson)...

Thursday 11 September. 6 - 8pm. £33.50. Join us for a lively and immersive introduction to the sex trade in Georgian London!

Keats House 100: From Poet’s Life to ‘Living Memorial’

Tuesday 26 August, 12.30 - 1.30pm. £3.96 (booking required). Join Keats House curator to discover the fascinating story of why and how Keats House became a museum 100 years ago.

A close-up of a polished wooden table set for a celebration with two ornate brass candelabras holding lit taper candles, and four glasses of sparkling wine. At the center of the table is a champagne bottle draped in an embroidered cloth featuring a historical design and the words "Gopsam and Lady Jean's Revels." Framed portraits hang on the pale green walls in the background, adding to the elegant and historical setting.

Museum Lates at Dr Johnson's House

Thursday 21 August, 5.30pm - 7pm. £16.95. Explore London’s literary past after-hours with a glass of prosecco and a short 10-minute talk on Johnson and Boswell's travels in Scotland.

A young child with blonde hair in a blue and white striped dress uses a white quill pen to write on a sheet of paper at a wooden table. Ink marks form a large, bold question mark. Other sheets of handwritten paper and several quills in an inkwell surround the child, capturing a hands-on moment of historic writing activity.

Kids Aloud!

Join our special drop-in timeslot with Art Fund, especially for families to explore our collection when children can be as loud and energetic as they like.

A portrait of Samuel Johnson seated in an armchair, wearing a dark brown robe and white shirt. He rests against a checkered cushion and leans slightly to one side, gazing thoughtfully ahead. One hand lies on a table, pointing to a sheet of paper, with leather-bound books and a quill nearby, suggesting a scholarly or literary setting. The lighting is soft and subdued, emphasizing the introspective mood of the scene.

Johnson and Barber: A Story of Teaching

Explore Samuel Johnson’s flawed yet determined efforts as a teacher, beginning with his short-lived school, Edial Hall, and later in his own household, focusing especially on his education of Francis Barber, the Black child he helped raise and who would become England’s first Black schoolmaster.

The Tower of London: Creating a 13th-Century World Within its Walls

Tuesday 29 July, 12.30 - 1.30pm. £3.96 (booking required). This talk examines how archaeology and historical records surrounding a building can shape historical fiction.