To A Very Fine Cat Indeed

“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

Writer, Samuel Johnson, was very fond of his black cat, Hodge. Hodge was a very pampered cat and ate oysters that Johnson fetched from the market for him. In 1997 a bronze statue of the cat by sculptor Jon Bickley was installed outside Johnson’s house at Number 17 Gough Square in London where he lived from 1748 to 1759. The bronze feline sits on a dictionary with oysters at his feet. The words A Very Fine Cat Indeed are inscribed on it.

Via Atlas Obscura