John Hawkins (1719-1789) was a friend of Samuel Johnson, and published the Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. in 1787. This was the first full biography of Johnson, written at the request of the publishers Thomas Cadell and William Strahan, but it was attacked by critics, in particular by Hawkins’ literary rival James Boswell, whose own biography of Johnson appeared in 1791. Hawkins had known Johnson since 1739 and was a member of his Literary Club, but he did not have a good relationship with Johnson’s other friends, and they were astounded that Johnson made Hawkins one of the executors of his will. The literary journals accused Hawkins of writing an inaccurate and spiteful account of Johnson’s life, full of lengthy and irrelevant digressions. Elizabeth Carter, on the other hand, who had known Johnson well, said “his character of Dr. Johnson is impartially, and very decently and candidly, represented” (Carter to Montagu, 22nd June 1787).