Books

London: for W. Strahan [et al.], 1773. 2 volumes, large folio, pp. [56] plus unpaginated lexicon in double column; [2] plus unpaginated lexicon; titles printed in red and black, collated complete; title in volume I neatly remargined, first 3 leaves in volume II supplied from another copy; contemporary full calf rebacked with old spines laid down and with neat repairs at spine ends; in all, a good, sound copy. Textually, the best edition of Johnson's magnum opus. The fourth edition ranks next to the first edition of 1755 in both importance and interest, representing the author's final and only substantially corrected text, and including his page-long advertisement to it ("Many faults I have corrected, some superfluities I have taken away, and some deficiencies I have supplied..."). "Significant numbers of new illustrative texts were incorporated, while many others were dropped and replaced. [He] often flooded existing entries with new illustrations, sometimes accompanied by…

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.