Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

From Publishers Weekly
Here is a real treat for word lovers: 3,100 selections from Dr. Johnson's historic dictionary, with definitions, etymologies and usage illustrations. To buss is charmingly defined as "To kiss; to salute with the lips." And laced mutton, readers learn, is "an old word for a whore." The excerpts from the dictionary itself are complemented by the inclusion of Johnson's earlier "Plan of a Dictionary" ("of all the candidates for literary praise, the unhappy lexicographer holds the lowest place," he opines) and three appendixes: one of Shakesperean citations in the dictionary, one of additional literary citations and a third of "piquant terms." ("Ape: A kind of monkey remarkable for imitating what he sees.") In his introduction, Lynch, a Rutgers University Johnson scholar, dispels the myth that this was the first dictionary. It was, however, the first standard dictionary, the one used by Wordsworth, Austen and George Eliot-and this edition of it is fascinating.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
Two volumes thick and 2,300 pages long, Samuel Johnson's Dictionary, published in 1755, marked a milestone in a language that, as Jonathan Swift and other writers had long lamented, was in desperate need of standards. The work of a great reader and writer, and an earnest compiler, it was the first English dictionary to devote so much space to everyday words; to be so resoundingly thorough in its definitions; and to illustrate usage by quoting from Shakespeare and other great writers. For the next 150 years, the Dictionary would define the language until the arrival of the Oxford English Dictionary. Johnson's was the dictionary for Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, Wordsworth and Coleridge, the Brontes and the Brownings, Thomas Hardy and Oscar Wilde. Modern dictionaries owe much to Johnson's work. This new edition, created by Levenger Press, contains more than 3,100 selections faithfully adapted from the original. Etymology, definitions, and illustrative passages appear in their entirety and are preserved in their original spelling. Bristling with quotations, the Dictionary offers a treasury of memorable passages on subjects ranging from books and critics to dreams and ethics. It also features three helpful new indexes created out of entries in this edition: Words found in Shakespeare's works; words from other great literary works; and piquant terms used in eighteenth-century discussions of such topics as law, medicine, and the sexes. Finally, Johnson's "The Plan of a Dictionary of the English Language," which he wrote eight years before the Dictionary and which is seldom seen in print, is reproduced in its entirety. To create his Dictionary, Johnson worked with the help of only six scribes and without benefit of a committee. Learned, curmudgeonly, passionate, and disciplined, he infused his work with a distinctive mix of scholarship, authority, and wit. For those who appreciate literature and love language, it is a browser's delight: An encyclopedia of the age and a dictionary for the ages.

About the Author
Jack Lynch is a professor of English at Rutgers University and a Johnson scholar, having studied the great lexicographer for a decade. He is the author of The Age of Elizabeth in the Age of Johnson and the editor of A Bibliography of Johnsonian Studies, 1986-1998. Dr. Lynch serves as joint editor of The Age of Johnson: A Scholarly Annual.


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Jack Lynch is a professor of English at Rutgers University and a Johnson scholar, having studied the great lexicographer for a decade. He is the author of The Age of Elizabeth in the Age of Johnson and the editor of A Bibliography of Johnsonian Studies, 1986-1998. He has written journal articles and scholarly reviews addressing Johnson and the eighteenth century and hosts a web site devoted to these topics.Dr. Lynch serves as joint editor of The Age of Johnson: A Scholarly Annual.


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