April 15

In literary history

• 1755Samuel Johnson published his Dictionary nine years after Lord Chesterfield gave him ten pounds of patronage and fell silent. When Chesterfield tried to claim credit at publication, Johnson's letter declining the honour became the fiercer monument.

Writers born on April 15

• Henry James (1843),
• Robert Walser (1878),
• Tomas Tranströmer (1931)

The Daily Canon for April 15

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James (1881).