Goldsmith corrected proofs for Richardson, while still trying to make a living as a doctor. He was elected to Johnson’s literary club, where Reynolds, Boswell and Garrick were among fellow-members; Johnson at least once saved the famously chaotic Goldsmith’s bacon, allegedly selling a manuscript that went on to be a hit. He first met Boswell in a bookshop, was visited and painted by Hogarth, wrote for Smollett’s review, and alternately charmed and tested the patience of most of his friends; Reynolds, the closest, allowed that many found it hard to believe that he was the author of his own works.