Books

London: by W. Strahan, for J. and P. Knapton; T. and T. Longman; C. Hitch and L. Hawes; A. Millar; and R. and J. Dodsley,, 1755. First edition of this most famous of English dictionaries. This work has at various times been called "the most important British cultural monument of the eighteenth century" (Hitchings); "the only dictionary [of the English language] compiled by a writer of the first rank" (Robert Burchfield); "the most amazing, enduring and endearing one-man feat in the field of lexicography" (PMM); and the first genuinely descriptive dictionary in any language. "Johnson's writings had, in philology, the effect which Newton's discoveries had in mathematics" (Webster). Two vols, folio (400 x 251 mm). Contemporary boards fully re-covered to style in sprinkled calf, spines with raised bands, gilt in compartments, red and green labels, board-edges with decorative roll in gilt. Title pages in red and black. Bookplates of William J. Young, Professor of Music (fl. 1851).…

Samuel Johnson's 'A Dictionary of the English Language' is among the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language. First published on 15 April 1755, the dictionary offered comprehensive definitions and illustrative examples of usage.