Welcome to the Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum & Bookshop website.

The Museum (to which entry is FREE) stands in the centre of the historic city of Lichfield, which remained close to Johnson's heart throughout his life. The writer, best known for his Dictionary of the English Language, 1755, spent the first 27 years of his life in the large, imposing house which overlooks Market Square, and he returned frequently until shortly before his death in 1784.

The building, now Grade 1 listed, contains a varied mix of displays, reconstructed rooms and audio-visual media which take the visitor through the colourful life and major achievements of Lichfield's most famous son, from troubled childhood, through literary obscurity and financial poverty, to world renown and success.

Our website has recently been updated, please click here to go to our new front page