Lichfield on the main routes from London to the north-west and Birmingham to the north-east. It also became a centre of great intellectual activity, being the home of many famous people including Samuel Johnson, David Garrick, Erasmus Darwin and Anna Seward; this prompted Johnson's remark that Lichfield was "a city of philosophers". In the 1720s Daniel Defoe described Lichfield as 'a fine, neat, well-built, and indifferent large city', the principal town in the region after Chester. During the late 18th and early 19th century much of the medieval city was rebuilt with the red-brick Georgian style buildings still to be seen
David Garrick (play) Duveyrier de Mélésville, which Adams' "Dictionary of Drama" claims to have been based on Joseph Bouchardy's 1836 short story "Garrick Médecin." The confusion with the "German dramatization" appears to be thus – "Garrick Médecin" was adapted into another French play entitled "Le Docteur Robin", which became widely known through a German translation. A misunderstanding caused the belief that "Sullivan" was actually based on "Doktor Robin" rather than the two being based on a mutual source, as evidenced in an 1895 article in "The New York Times". Another German play, "Garrick in Bristol", added to the confusion. The action takes place