A Very Fine Cat Indeed

FAA1106
A Very Fine Cat Indeed
London England
2012

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodge_(cat)

Hodge was one of Samuel Johnson's... more

by JAMART Photography

Title

A Very Fine Cat Indeed

Artist

JAMART Photography

Medium

Photograph - Art Photography

Description

FAA1106
A Very Fine Cat Indeed
London England
2012

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodge_(cat)

Hodge was one of Samuel Johnson's cats, immortalized in a characteristically whimsical passage in James Boswell's 1791 book Life of Johnson.

Although there is little known about Hodge, such as his life, his death, or any other information, what is known is Johnson's fondness for his cat, which separated Johnson from the views held by others of the eighteenth century.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/monument-hodge-cat

“I NEVER SHALL FORGET THE indulgence with which he treated Hodge, his cat… I recollect him one day scrambling up Dr. Johnson’s breast, apparently with much satisfaction, while my friend smiling and half-whistling, rubbed down his back, and pulled him by the tail; and when I observed he was a fine cat, saying, ‘Why yes, Sir, but I have had cats whom I liked better than this;’ and then as if perceiving Hodge to be out of countenance, adding, ‘but he is a very fine cat, a very fine cat indeed.’” -James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson 1799

Hodge was a black cat belonging to the English lexicographer Samuel Johnson of whom the writer was particularly fond. He was known to go out of his way to purchase oysters to feed the cat, even to the point of annoying his servants by his pampering of his pets.

After Hodge’s death, the poet Percival Stockdale wrote “An Elegy on the Death of Dr Johnson’s Favourite Cat”:

“Who, by his master when caressed / Warmly his gratitude expressed; / And never failed his thanks to purr / Whene’er he stroked his sable fur.”

The bronze statue to Hodge by sculptor Jon Bickley was installed in 1997 by the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Roger Cook, outside Johnson’s house at Number 17 Gough Square where he lived from 1748 to 1759, now a museum dedicated to the writer’s life. Hodge is shown sitting on top of Johnson’s dictionary and next to some empty oyster shells. The monument is inscribed with the words “a very fine cat indeed.”

Today Hodge is remembered by a bronze statue, unveiled in 1997 by Sir Roger Cook, the then-Lord Mayor of London, outside the house in Gough Square he shared with Johnson and Barber, Johnson's black manservant and heir. The statue shows Hodge sitting next to a pair of empty oyster shells atop a copy of Johnson's famous dictionary, with the inscription "a very fine cat indeed". It has become customary for visitors that walk past the statue to place coins in the oyster shells as tokens of good luck. To mark special occasions and anniversaries a pink piece of counsel's ribbon may be seen tied to one of the oyster shells or around Hodge's neck.

Sculptor Jon Bickley perceived a kinship with Johnson, noting, "It seems Dr. Johnson and I were meant to come together . . . He was born in Lichfield, in the Midlands, and I was brought up just outside it. I can close my eyes and picture his birth house." Bickley modelled the cat on his own pet, Thomas Henry, and carefully selected the sculpture's height for maximum accessibility: "I made Hodge about shoulder height for the average adult, which is just about right for putting an arm around."



Hodge was Dr Samuel Johnson's (1709 - 1784) cat. His statue is in the courtyard outside Dr Johnson's House at 17 Gough Square, City of London. It shows him sitting atop a copy of his master's famous dictionary, with a couple of empty oyster shells next to him; he's looking towards his master's house.

According to Dr Johnson, Hodge was 'a very fine cat indeed'. This is how he is described in a passage in James Boswell's Life of Johnson if you want to read more, Hodge has got his own Wikipedia page, too.

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October 21st, 2012