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JOHNSON, Samuel (1709-1784). A Dictionary of the English Language in which the words are deduced from their originals, and illustrated in their different significations by examples from the best writers. London: W. Strahan for J. and P. Knapton; T. and T. Longman; C. Hitch and L. Hawes; A. Millar; and R. and J. Dodsley, 1755.
2 volumes, 2° (403 x 251mm). Titles in red and black, woodcut tailpieces. (Title and following few leaves in vol.II lightly creased, clean tear in lower margin of 2Z in vol.I affecting 6 lines of text, some, mainly light spotting and browning throughout, stronger in some leaves, a few stains.) Contemporary calf (rebacked and repaired along extremities, new endpapers, rubbed). Provenance: Major C.E.S. Phillips (gifted to the Royal Institution on 27 August 1946).
FIRST EDITION OF JOHNSON'S GREATEST LITERARY LABOUR and 'the most amazing, enduring and endearing one-man feat in the field of lexicography' (PMM). As his use of 114,000 illustrative quotations shows, Johnson clearly intended to combine lexicography with entertainment and instruction. Descriptive rather than prescriptive, Johnson included 'the entire sweep of words from the crude and demotic to ... recent fanciful forms imported from other languages' (DNB). Johnson, while of phenomenal memory and able to write with great rapidity, nevertheless suffered from what is now known as 'writer's block.' Strahan's ledger shows that a printing charge was made to the proprietors of the Dictionary at least as early December, 1750. However, there is no further reference to charges between December 1750, and May 1752, and at this stage the proprietors, who were entirely dependent on Johnson's goodwill and industry, must have wondered whether he would ever complete the work. A melancholy genius, assiduously cultivating in words the elegance which his person and surroundings lacked, and relying on an association of booksellers to promote an enterprise which royal and noble patronage would not support, Johnson was engaged in a struggle with debt, disease, grief over his wife's death, and admitted laziness. By the beginning of 1753, however, his differences with the booksellers were resolved, and progress became more rapid, though he did not start the second volume until April 1753. The Dictionary was officially published on 15 April 1755, in an edition of 2000 copies, and sold at the high price of £4 10s 0d. Fleeman estimates that 'more than half' the copies survive. Courtney & Smith p. 54; Chapman & Hazen p. 137; Fleeman I, p. 410; PMM 201; Rothschild 1237; Slade & Kolb Johnson's Dictionary pp. 105-113
2 volumes, 2° (403 x 251mm). Titles in red and black, woodcut tailpieces. (Title and following few leaves in vol.II lightly creased, clean tear in lower margin of 2Z in vol.I affecting 6 lines of text, some, mainly light spotting and browning throughout, stronger in some leaves, a few stains.) Contemporary calf (rebacked and repaired along extremities, new endpapers, rubbed). Provenance: Major C.E.S. Phillips (gifted to the Royal Institution on 27 August 1946).
FIRST EDITION OF JOHNSON'S GREATEST LITERARY LABOUR and 'the most amazing, enduring and endearing one-man feat in the field of lexicography' (PMM). As his use of 114,000 illustrative quotations shows, Johnson clearly intended to combine lexicography with entertainment and instruction. Descriptive rather than prescriptive, Johnson included 'the entire sweep of words from the crude and demotic to ... recent fanciful forms imported from other languages' (DNB). Johnson, while of phenomenal memory and able to write with great rapidity, nevertheless suffered from what is now known as 'writer's block.' Strahan's ledger shows that a printing charge was made to the proprietors of the Dictionary at least as early December, 1750. However, there is no further reference to charges between December 1750, and May 1752, and at this stage the proprietors, who were entirely dependent on Johnson's goodwill and industry, must have wondered whether he would ever complete the work. A melancholy genius, assiduously cultivating in words the elegance which his person and surroundings lacked, and relying on an association of booksellers to promote an enterprise which royal and noble patronage would not support, Johnson was engaged in a struggle with debt, disease, grief over his wife's death, and admitted laziness. By the beginning of 1753, however, his differences with the booksellers were resolved, and progress became more rapid, though he did not start the second volume until April 1753. The Dictionary was officially published on 15 April 1755, in an edition of 2000 copies, and sold at the high price of £4 10s 0d. Fleeman estimates that 'more than half' the copies survive. Courtney & Smith p. 54; Chapman & Hazen p. 137; Fleeman I, p. 410; PMM 201; Rothschild 1237; Slade & Kolb Johnson's Dictionary pp. 105-113
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