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''A Dictionary of the English Language'', sometimes published as ''Johnson's Dictionary'', was published on 15 April 1755 and written by Samuel Johnson. It is among the most influential dictionaries in the history of the
English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...
. There was dissatisfaction with the dictionaries of the period, so in June 1746 a group of London booksellers contracted Johnson to write a dictionary for the sum of 1,500
guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...
(£1,575), equivalent to about £ in . Johnson took seven years to complete the work, although he had claimed he could finish it in three. He did so single-handedly, with only clerical assistance to copy the illustrative quotations that he had marked in books. Johnson produced several revised editions during his life. Until the completion of the ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
'' 173 years later, Johnson's was viewed as the pre-eminent English dictionary. According to Walter Jackson Bate, the Dictionary "easily ranks as one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship, and probably the greatest ever performed by one individual who laboured under anything like the disadvantages in a comparable length of time".


Background

In earlier times, books had been regarded with something approaching veneration, but by the mid-eighteenth century this was no longer the case. The rise of literacy among the general public, combined with the technical advances in the mechanics of
printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...
and bookbinding, meant that for the first time, books, texts, maps, pamphlets and newspapers were widely available to the general public at a reasonable cost. Such an explosion of the printed word demanded a set pattern of grammar, definition, and spelling for those words. This could be achieved by means of an authoritative dictionary of the English language. In 1746, a consortium of London's most successful printers, including
Robert Dodsley Robert Dodsley (13 February 1703 – 23 September 1764) was an English bookseller, publisher, poet, playwright, and miscellaneous writer. Life Dodsley was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school. H ...
and Thomas
Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...
– none could afford to undertake it alone – set out to satisfy and capitalise on this need by the ever-increasing reading and writing public. Johnson's dictionary was not the first English dictionary, nor even among the first dozen. Over the previous 150 years more than twenty dictionaries had been published in England, the oldest of these being a Latin-English "wordbook" by Sir
Thomas Elyot Sir Thomas Elyot (c. 149626 March 1546) was an English diplomat and scholar. He is best known as one of the first proponents of the use of the English language for literary purposes. Early life Thomas was the child of Sir Richard Elyot's firs ...
published in 1538. The next to appear was by
Richard Mulcaster Richard Mulcaster (ca. 1531, Carlisle, Cumberland – 15 April 1611, Essex) is known best for his headmasterships of Merchant Taylors' School and St Paul's School, both then in London, and for his pedagogic writings. He is often regarded as t ...
, a headmaster, in 1583. Mulcaster compiled what he termed "a generall table f eight thousand wordswe commonlie use... etIt were a thing verie praise worthy...if som well learned...would gather all words which we use in the English tung...into one dictionary..." In 1598, an Italian–English dictionary by John Florio was published. It was the first English dictionary to use quotations ("illustrations") to give meaning to the word; in none of these dictionaries so far were there any actual definitions of words. This was to change, to a small extent, in schoolmaster Robert Cawdrey's ''
Table Alphabeticall ''A Table Alphabeticall'' is the abbreviated title of the first monolingual dictionary in the English language, created by Robert Cawdrey and first published in London in 1604. Although the work is important in being the first collection of it ...
'', published in 1604. Though it contained only 2,449 words, and no word beginning with the letters ''W'', ''X'', or ''Y'', this was the first monolingual English dictionary. Several more dictionaries followed: in
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, English, French and Italian. Benjamin Martin's ''Lingua Britannica Reformata'' (1749) and Ainsworth's ''Thesaurus Linguae Latinae'' (1737) are both significant, in that they define entries in separate senses, or aspects, of the word. In English (among others), John Cowell's ''Interpreter'', a law dictionary, was published in 1607,
Edward Phillips Edward Phillips (August 1630 – c. 1696) was an English author. Life He was the son of Edward Phillips of the crown office in chancery, and his wife Anne, only sister of John Milton, the poet. Edward Phillips the younger was born in Strand, L ...
' ''
The new world of English words ''The New World of English Words, or, a General Dictionary'' is a dictionary compiled by Edward Phillips and first published in London in 1658. It was the first folio English dictionary.   Contents As well as containing common words, the dictiona ...
'' came out in 1658 and a dictionary of 40,000 words had been prepared in 1721 by
Nathan Bailey Nathan Bailey (died 27 June 1742), was an English philologist and lexicographer. He was the author of several dictionaries, including his '' Universal Etymological Dictionary'', which appeared in some 30 editions between 1721 and 1802. Bailey's ...
, though none was as comprehensive in breadth or style as Johnson's. The problem with these dictionaries was that they tended to be little more than poorly organised and poorly researched glossaries of "hard words": words that were technical, foreign, obscure or antiquated. But perhaps the greatest single fault of these early lexicographers was, as historian
Henry Hitchings Henry Hitchings (born 11 December 1974) is an author, reviewer and critic, specializing in narrative non-fiction, with a particular emphasis on language and cultural history. The second of his books, ''The Secret Life of Words: How English Beca ...
put it, that they "failed to give sufficient sense of he Englishlanguage as it appeared ''in use''." In that sense Dr. Johnson's dictionary was the first to comprehensively document the English lexicon.


Johnson's preparation

Johnson's dictionary was prepared at 17 Gough Square, London, an eclectic household, between the years of 1746 and 1755. By 1747 Johnson had written his ''Plan of a Dictionary of the English Language'', which spelled out his intentions and proposed methodology for preparing his document. He clearly saw benefit in drawing from previous efforts, and saw the process as a parallel to
legal precedent A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great valu ...
(possibly influenced by Cowell): Johnson's ''Plan'' received the patronage of
Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, (22 September 169424 March 1773) was a British statesman, diplomat, and man of letters, and an acclaimed wit of his time. Early life He was born in London to Philip Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Ches ...
but not to Johnson's pleasure. Chesterfield did not care about praise, but was instead interested by Johnson's abilities.Lane p. 118 Seven years after first meeting Johnson to discuss the work, Chesterfield wrote two anonymous essays in ''The World'' that recommended the ''Dictionary''. He complained that the English language was lacking structure and argued: However, Johnson did not appreciate the tone of the essay, and he felt that Chesterfield had not made good on his promise to be the work's patron. In a letter, Johnson explained his feelings about the matter:


The text

''A Dictionary of the English Language'' was somewhat large and very expensive. Its pages were tall and nearly wide. The paper was of the finest quality available, the cost of which ran to nearly £1,600; more than Johnson had been paid to write the book. Johnson himself pronounced the book ''"Vasta mole superbus"'' ("Proud in its great bulk"). No bookseller could possibly hope to print this book without help; outside a few special editions of the Bible no book of this heft and size had even been set to type. The
title page The title page of a book, thesis or other written work is the page at or near the front which displays its title, subtitle, author, publisher, and edition, often artistically decorated. (A half title, by contrast, displays only the title of a w ...
reads:
The words "Samuel Johnson" and "English Language" were printed in red; the rest was printed in black. The preface and headings were set in 4.6 mm "English" type, the text—double columned—was set in 3.5 mm pica. This first edition of the dictionary contained a 42,773-word list, to which only a few more were added in subsequent editions. One of Johnson's important innovations was to illustrate the meanings of his words by
literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
quotation, of which there are around 114,000. The authors most frequently cited by Johnson include
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
, Milton and
Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...
. For example: :OPULENCE :Wealth; riches; affluence :"There in full ''opulence'' a banker dwelt, :Who all the joys and pangs of riches felt; :His sideboard glitter'd with imagin'd plate, :And his proud fancy held a vast estate." :--
Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dubl ...
Furthermore, Johnson, unlike Bailey, added notes on a word's usage, rather than being merely descriptive. Unlike most modern
lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretica ...
s, Johnson introduced humour or prejudice into quite a number of his definitions. Among the best-known are: *"
Excise file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...
: a hateful tax levied upon commodities and adjudged not by the common judges of property but wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid" *"
Lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretica ...
: a writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge that busies himself in tracing the original and detailing the signification of words" *"
Oat The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...
s: a grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people" A couple of less well-known examples are: *"Monsieur: a term of reproach for a Frenchman" *"Patron: One who countenances, supports, or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is paid with flattery." which some have understood to be a jab at his patron Philip Stanhope. He included whimsical little-known words, such as: *"Writative – A word of Pope's, not to be imitated: "Increase of years makes men more talkative but less ''writative''; to that degree I now write letters but of plain how d'ey's."" On a more serious level, Johnson's work showed a heretofore unseen meticulousness. Unlike all the proto-dictionaries that had come before, painstaking care went into the completeness when it came not only to "illustrations" but also to definitions as well: *"Turn" had 16 definitions with 15 illustrations *"Time" had 20 definitions with 14 illustrations *"Put" ran more than 5,000 words spread over 3 pages *"Take" had 134 definitions, running 8,000 words, over 5 pages The original goal was to publish the dictionary in two
folio The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...
volumes: A–K and L–Z. But that soon proved unwieldy, unprofitable, and unrealistic. Subsequent printings ran to four volumes; even these formed a stack tall, and weighed in at nearly . In addition to the sheer physical heft of Johnson's dictionary, came the equally hefty price: £4/10/– (equivalent to approximately £ in ). So discouraging was the price that by 1784, thirty years after the first edition was published, when the dictionary had by then run through five editions, only about 6,000 copies were in circulation—an average sale of 200 books a year for thirty years. Johnson's etymologies would be considered poor by modern standards, and he gave little guide to pronunciation; one example being "Cough: A convulsion of the lungs, vellicated by some sharp serosity. It is pronounced coff". Much of his dictionary was
prescriptivist Linguistic prescription, or prescriptive grammar, is the establishment of rules defining preferred usage of language. These rules may address such linguistic aspects as spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, syntax, and semantics. Sometimes infor ...
. It was also linguistically conservative, advocating traditional spellings such as ''publick'' rather than the simpler spellings that would be favoured 73 years later by
Noah Webster Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible ( Book of Genesis, chapters 5 ...
. The dictionary is in alphabetical order according to the 18th Century
English alphabet The alphabet for Modern English is a Latin-script alphabet consisting of 26 letters, each having an upper- and lower-case form. The word ''alphabet'' is a compound of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, ''alpha'' and '' beta''. ...
. In the eighteenth century, the letters I and J were considered different forms of the same letter; the same with letters U and V. As a result, in Johnson's dictionary the word jargon comes before the word idle, and vagabond comes before ultimate. In spite of its shortcomings, the dictionary was far and away the best of its day. Its scope and structure were carried forward in dictionaries that followed, including Noah Webster's ''Webster's Dictionary'' in 1828 and the ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
'' later in the same century.


Reception history


Initial reception

From the beginning there was universal appreciation not only of the content of the ''Dictionary'' but also of Johnson's achievement in single-handedly creating it: "When Boswell came to this part of Johnson's life, more than three decades later, he pronounced that 'the world contemplated with wonder so stupendous a work achieved by one man, while other countries had thought such undertakings fit only for whole academies'." "The ''Dictionary'' was considered, from the moment of its inception, to be Johnson's, and from the time of its completion it was ''Johnson's Dictionary''—his book and his property, his monument, his memorial." Immediately after publication "The ''Dictionary'' was enthusiastically written up in important periodicals such as the ''
London Magazine ''The London Magazine'' is the title of six different publications that have appeared in succession since 1732. All six have focused on the arts, literature and miscellaneous topics. 1732–1785 ''The London Magazine, or, Gentleman's Monthly I ...
'' and—none too surprisingly—the ''
Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term '' magazine'' (from the French ''magazine' ...
''. In the latter it received an eight-page notice". Reviews, such as they were, proved generous in tone: "Of the less positive assessments the only properly judicious one came from Adam Smith in the pro-Whig '' Edinburgh Review'' ... he wished that Johnson 'had oftener passed his own censure upon those words which are not of approved use, though sometimes to be met with in authors of no mean name'. Furthermore, Johnson's approach was not 'sufficiently grammatical'". Despite the ''Dictionary''s critical acclaim, Johnson's general financial situation continued in its dismal fashion for some years after 1755: "The image of Johnson racing to write ''Rasselas'' to pay for his mother's funeral, romantic hyperbole though it is, conveys the precariousness of his existence, almost four years after his work on the ''Dictionary'' was done. His financial uncertainties continued. He gave up the house in Gough Square in March 1759, probably for lack of funds. Yet, just as Johnson was plunging into another trough of despondency, the reputation of the ''Dictionary'' at last brought reward. In July 1762 Johnson was granted a state pension of £300 a year by the twenty-four-year-old monarch,
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
. The pension did not make him rich, but it ensured he would no longer have to grub around for the odd guinea."


Criticism

As lexicography developed, faults were found with Johnson's work: "From an early stage there were noisy detractors. Perhaps the loudest of them was
John Horne Tooke John Horne Tooke (25 June 1736 – 18 March 1812), known as John Horne until 1782 when he added the surname of his friend William Tooke to his own, was an English clergyman, politician, and philologist. Associated with radical proponents of parl ...
... Not content to pronounce it 'imperfect and faulty', he complained that it was 'one of the most idle performances ever offered to the public', that its author 'possessed not one single requisite for the undertaking', that its grammatical and historical parts were 'most truly contemptible performances', and that 'nearly one third ... is as much the language of the Hottentots as of the English'." " Horace Walpole summed up for the unbelievers when he pronounced at the end of the eighteenth century, 'I cannot imagine that Dr Johnson's reputation will be very lasting.' His dictionary was 'a surprising work for one man', but 'the task is too much for one man, and ... a society should alone pretend to publish a standard dictionary.' Notwithstanding Walpole's reservations, the admirers out-numbered the detractors, and the reputation of the ''Dictionary'' was repeatedly boosted by other philologists, lexicographers, educationalists and word detectives." Johnson's dictionary was made when
etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...
was largely based on guesswork. His Classical leanings led him to prefer spellings that pointed to Latin or Greek sources, "while his lack of sound scholarship prevented him from detecting their frequent errors". For example, he preferred the spelling ''
ache Ache or Aches may refer to: Ethnography * Aché, an indigenous people of eastern Paraguay * Aché language, the language of the Aché people * Ache language (China) * Aṣẹ (Cuban spelling: ''aché''), a concept in Orisha belief People * Ach ...
'' over ''
ake Ake (or Aké in Spanish orthography) is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It's located in the municipality of Tixkokob, in the Mexican state of Yucatán; 40 km (25 mi) east of Mérida, Yucatán. The name ...
'' as he wrongly thought it came from the Greek ''achos''. Some of his spelling choices were also inconsistent: "while retaining the Latin ''p'' in ''receipt'' he left it out of ''deceit''; he spelled ''deign'' one way and ''disdain'' another; he spelled ''uphill'' but ''downhil'', ''muckhill'' but ''dunghil'', ''instill'' but ''distil'', ''inthrall'' but ''disenthral''". Boswell relates that "A lady once asked him ohnsonhow he came to define ''
pastern The is a part of the leg of a horse between the fetlock and the top of the hoof. It incorporates the long pastern bone (proximal phalanx) and the short pastern bone (middle phalanx), which are held together by two sets of paired ligaments to fo ...
'' as the ''knee'' of a horse: instead of making an elaborate reply, as she expected, he at once replied, 'Ignorance, Madam, pure ignorance.'" On the same page, Boswell notes that Johnson's definition of ''
network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...
'' ("Any thing reticulated or decussated, at equal distances, with interstices between the intersections") "has often been quoted with sportive malignity, as obscuring a thing in itself very plain." Other than stress indication, the dictionary did not feature many word-specific orthoepical guidelines, with Johnson stating that ‘For pronunciation, the best general rule is, to consider those as the most elegant speakers who deviate least from the written sounds’ and referring to the irregular pronunciations as ‘jargon’; this was subject to coetaneous criticism by John Walker, who wrote in the preface of his '' Critical Pronouncing Dictionary'' ‘It is certain, where custom is equal, this ought to take place; and if the whole body of respectable English speakers were equally divided in thir pronunciation of the word ''busy'', one half pronuncing it ''bew-ze'', and the other half ''biz-ze'', that the former ought to be accounted the most elegant speakers; but till this is the case, the latter pronunciation, though a gross deviation from orthography, will be esteemed the most elegant. Dr. Johnson's general rule, therefore, can only take place where custom has not plainly decided.’ Nevertheless, Walker scrupulously followed Johnson's explanations of words, as did many contemporary dictionaries.


Influence in Britain

Despite the criticisms, "The influence of the ''Dictionary'' was sweeping. Johnson established both a methodology for how dictionaries should be put together and a paradigm for how entries should be presented. Anyone who sought to create a dictionary, post-Johnson, did so in his shadow." "In his history of the ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
'',
Simon Winchester Simon Winchester (born 28 September 1944) is a British-American author and journalist. In his career at ''The Guardian'' newspaper, Winchester covered numerous significant events, including Bloody Sunday and the Watergate Scandal. Winchester has ...
asserts of its eighteenth-century predecessor that 'by the end of the century every educated household had, or had access to, the great book. So firmly established did it swiftly become that any request for "The Dictionary" would bring forth Johnson and none other.' 'One asked for The Dictionary,' writes Winchester, 'much as one might demand The Bible.'" One of the first editors of the ''
OED The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
'', James Murray, acknowledged that many of Johnson's explanations were adopted without change, for 'When his definitions are correct, and his arrangement judicious, it seems to be expedient to follow him.' ... In the end the ''
OED The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
'' reproduced around 1,700 of Johnson's definitions, marking them simply 'J.'."


Reputation abroad

Johnson's influence was not confined to Britain and English: "The president of the Florentine Accademia declared that the ''Dictionary'' would be 'a perpetual Monument of Fame to the Author, an Honour to his own Country in particular, and a general Benefit to the Republic of Letters'. This was no empty commendation. Johnson's work served as a model for lexicographers abroad. It is no surprise that his friend Giuseppe Baretti chose to make the ''Dictionary'' the model for his Italian—English dictionary of 1760, and for his Spanish dictionary nearly two decades later. But there are numerous examples of influence beyond Johnson's own circle. His work was translated into French and German." And "In 1777, when Ferdinando Bottarelli published a pocket dictionary of Italian, French and English (the three languages side by side), his authorities for the French and Italian words were the works of the French and Italian academies: for the English he used Johnson."Hitchings 2005, p. 224


Influence in America

The ''Dictionary'' was exported to America. "The American adoption of the ''Dictionary'' was a momentous event not just in its history, but in the history of lexicography. For Americans in the second half of the eighteenth century, Johnson was the seminal authority on language, and the subsequent development of American lexicography was coloured by his fame." For American lexicographers the ''Dictionary'' was impossible to ignore: "America's two great nineteenth-century lexicographers,
Noah Webster Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible ( Book of Genesis, chapters 5 ...
and
Joseph Emerson Worcester Joseph Emerson Worcester (August 24, 1784 – October 27, 1865) was an American lexicographer who was the chief competitor to Noah Webster of ''Webster's Dictionary'' in the mid-nineteenth-century. Their rivalry became known as the "dictionary ...
, argued fiercely over Johnson's legacy ... In 1789 ebsterdeclared that 'Great Britain, whose children we are, and whose language we speak, should no longer be ''our'' standard; for the taste of her writers is already corrupted, and her language on the decline.'" "Where Webster found fault with Johnson, Joseph Worcester saluted him ... In 1846 he completed his '' Universal and Critical Dictionary of the English Language''. He defended Johnson's work, arguing that 'from the time of its publication, thas been, far more than any other, regarded as the standard for the language'." Notwithstanding the evolution of lexicography in America, "The ''Dictionary'' has also played its part in the law, especially in the United States. Legislators are much occupied with ascertaining 'first meanings', with trying to secure the literal sense of their predecessors' legislation ... Often it is a matter of historicizing language: to understand a law, you need to understand what its terminology meant to its original architects ... as long as the American Constitution remains intact, Johnson's ''Dictionary'' will have a role to play in
American law The law of the United States comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the federal government of the United States, as well as v ...
."


Folio and abridged editions

Johnson's dictionary came out in two forms. The first was the 1755 ''Folio'' edition, which came in two large volumes on 4 April. The folio edition also features full literary quotes by those authors that Johnson quoted, such as Dryden and Shakespeare. It was followed a few weeks later by a second edition published in 165 weekly parts. The third edition was published in 1765, but it was the fourth, which came out in 1773 which included significant revisions by Johnson of the original work. The ''Abridged'' edition came out in 1756 in two
octavo Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...
volumes with entries, "abstracted from the folio edition by the author", laid out as two columns per page. The abridged version did not feature the literary quotes, just the author quoted. This made it cheaper to produce and buy. It sold over a thousand copies a year for the next 30 years bringing "The Dictionary" to the reach of every literate home.


Replica editions

Johnson's ''Dictionary'' has been available in replica editions for some years. The entire first ''Folio'' edition is available o
A Dictionary of the English Language
as an electronic scan. As of April 15, 2021,
A Dictionary of the English Language
will become ''Johnsons Dictionary Online'', a project funded by the
National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
and created by a team of scholars at the
University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...
. This version is the first fully searchable online edition and will eventually include the 1775 folio edition. The Preface to the ''Dictionary'' is available on
Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...
. In addition, a scan of the 6th (1785) edition can be found at the Internet Archive in its two volumes.


In popular culture

The compilation of Johnson's ''Dictionary'' was the main plot-line for an
episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek term ''epeisodion'' (), meaning th ...
of ''
Blackadder the Third ''Blackadder the Third'' is the third series of the BBC sitcom ''Blackadder'', written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 17 September to 22 October 1987. The series is set during the Georgian Era, and sees the principal character ...
'' where Edmund Blackadder ( Rowan Atkinson), after confounding the scholar with a barrage of fabricated nonexistent words, tries to conceal the destruction of the dictionary's manuscript by his servant. Johnson had given his only manuscript to the Prince and was presumably destroyed by Blackadder's apprentice dogsbody Baldrick. The episode ends with Baldrick obliviously throwing the dictionary into the fire.


Notes


References

* * Collins, H. P. (1974) "The Birth of the Dictionary." ''History Today'' (March 1974), Vol. 24 Issue 3, pp 197–203 online. * ** US edition: * * * * * *


External links


Johnson's ''Plan of a Dictionary of the English Language'' (1747)
at the Library of Congress. *Johnson's ''Dictionary'', first folio edition, 1755
Volume IVolume II
at the Pomeranian Digital Library. *Johnson's ''Dictionary'', sixth folio edition, 1785
Volume 1
an
Volume 2
at the Internet Archive. * *Web site
''Samuel Johnson Dictionary Sources'', an extensive examination of the sources of quotations in Johnson's ''Dictionary''.
*Web site
Johnson's Dictionary Online, a searchable version of the 1st (1755) folio edition of Johnson's ''Dictionary''
*Web site

*Article : ttp://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1449513,00.html ''Words count''from ''The Guardian'', April 2005. *Web page
''A Brief History of English Lexicography''
an HTML table. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dictionary Of The English Language, A 1755 books 1755 in England Books by Samuel Johnson British non-fiction literature English dictionaries