Template talk:Samuel Johnson

Given that the two early biogs have such similar names, and given that most readers won't know whether Boswell wrote his in 1787 or 1791 could something be done to make Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) in the template clearer. eg something like Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) almost-instinct 15:00, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

:Could you leave a note on the Samuel Johnson talk page and the individual biography pages linking to this? I don't know how many people will see this here. Ottava Rima (talk) 15:35, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

::I beg your pardon, I didn't make myself clear enough. I meant: when looking at this template when it is in place at the bottom of one of the pages related to Johnson we see both "Life of Samuel Johnson (1787)" & "Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)", plus a couple of other books with his name in them. Those who are merely wanting to see Boswell's book, and don't know when it was published don't know where to start. I'm certainly not asking for the actual page Life of Samuel Johnson to be renamed Boswell's Life of Johnson! But do you think the template could make it clear which of the choice of four books is Boswell's? almost-instinct 15:45, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

:::I'm just saying that you should probably link those pages so you can get more input on this template. Nothing more or less. Ottava Rima (talk) 15:54, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

::Nevermind, I did it for you. Ottava Rima (talk) 15:57, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

How about doing it by adding the biographer after the year of publication like this:

{{Navbox

| name = Samuel Johnson

|title = Samuel Johnson

|image = 100x100px

|group1= Contemporary
accounts

|list1= A Biographical Sketch of Dr Samuel Johnson (1784) {{·}} The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides (1785) {{·}} Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson (1786) {{·}} Life of Samuel Johnson (1787, Hawkins) {{·}} Life of Samuel Johnson (1791, Boswell) {{·}} An Essay on the Life and Genius of Samuel Johnson (1792) {{·}} Thraliana (1942)

}}

CIreland (talk) 15:50, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

An alternative could be

{{Navbox

| name = Samuel Johnson

|title = Samuel Johnson

|image = 100x100px

|group1= Contemporary
accounts

|list1= Thomas Tyer's A Biographical Sketch of Dr Samuel Johnson {{·}} James Boswell's The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides {{·}} Hester Thrale's Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson {{·}} John Hawkins' Life of Samuel Johnson {{·}} James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson {{·}} Arthur Murphy's Essay on the Life and Genius of Samuel Johnson {{·}} Thraliana

}}

which looks, to my eye, friendlier—if that was what people think might be appropriate.

Changed from chronological to alphabetic order it would look like this:

{{Navbox

| name = Samuel Johnson

|title = Samuel Johnson

|image = 100x100px

|group1= Contemporary
accounts

|list1= James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson {{·}} James Boswell's The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides {{·}} John Hawkins' Life of Samuel Johnson {{·}} Arthur Murphy's Essay on the Life and Genius of Samuel Johnson {{·}} Hester Thrale's Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson {{·}} Thraliana {{·}} Thomas Tyer's A Biographical Sketch of Dr Samuel Johnson

}}

almost-instinct 14:33, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

:I think the final one just proposed above could easily accommodate all concerns. Ottava Rima (talk) 15:05, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

Not sure if there should be the biographical novel According to Queeney in this template...GrahamHardy (talk) 18:54, 4 November 2021 (UTC)