Johnson's Dictionary

Published in 1755 as A Dictionary of the English Language, this is a two-volume lexicon that defines words, traces etymologies, and illustrates usage with quotations from English authors. Johnson's Preface discusses the instability of living speech, the limits of fixing spelling and sense, and the labour of the work. Entries range from the technical and the humble to moral and scientific terms; some definitions are famously pointed. The book is a working dictionary and a critical essay on English, not a grammar textbook or a collection of Johnson's periodical essays. It records the language as a learned reader of the mid-eighteenth century understood it.

Quarter bound in dappled brown calfskin with leather corners and hand marbled sides and page edges by Ann Muir. Printed on cream toned paper. Brown cloth double slipcase with paper label. Enclosed 12 page leaflet by John Mullan on The Making of the Great Book of English. Pages not numbered.