The Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson or the Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson, LL.D. During the Last Twenty Years of His Life by Hester Thrale, was first published 26 March 1786.

It was based on the various notes and anecdotes of Samuel Johnson that Thrale kept in her Thraliana. She wrote the work in Italy while she lived there for three years after marrying Gabriel Piozzi.

The work was first published 26 March 1786. In 1815, Hester claimed:

At Rome we received letters saying the book was bought with such avidity, that Cadell had not one copy left when the King sent for it at ten o'clock at night, and he was forced to be one from a friend to supply his Majesty's impatience, who sate up all night reading it. I received £300, a sum unexampled in those days for so small a volume.

The Gentleman's Magazine of March 1786 said:

On the third morning after the book was published not a copy of it could be obtained.

The book went into four editions during 1786.

The Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson or the Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson, LL.D. During the Last Twenty Years of His Life by Hester Thrale, was first published 26 March 1786.

It was based on the various notes and anecdotes of Samuel Johnson that Thrale kept in her Thraliana. She wrote the work in Italy while she lived there for three years after marrying Gabriel Piozzi.

The work was first published 26 March 1786. In 1815, Hester claimed:

At Rome we received letters saying the book was bought with such avidity, that Cadell had not one copy left when the King sent for it at ten o'clock at night, and he was forced to be one from a friend to supply his Majesty's impatience, who sate up all night reading it. I received £300, a sum unexampled in those days for so small a volume.

The Gentleman's Magazine of March 1786 said:

On the third morning after the book was published not a copy of it could be obtained.

The book went into four editions during 1786.