Samuel Johnson the biographer, essayist, critic, poet, prose writer, parliamentary writer, dramatist and conversationalist, has been an extraordinary lexicographer too. He published his two- volume Dictionary on 15 April 1755,
“The Dictionary of the English Language”.
This Dictionary has also been at times published as Johnson’s Dictionary.
Robert Burchfield the modern lexicographer commented on Johnson’s Dictionary:
In the whole tradition of English Language and literature the only dictionary compiled by a writer of the first rank is that of Dr. Johnson
Samuel Johnson the premier literary figure of mid-eighteenth century was born to Sarah and Michael Johnson on 18th Sep, 1709. Though his father was once sheriff of the town yet, he had to face financial troubles right from birth to his education at Oxford and even later in his literary career. He had caught tuberculosis from his wet nurse and had contracted scrofula too. He could barely see from one eye. Yet the laurels attached to Johnson’s name are immense. Though he had to bear physical, financial hardship he rose to great heights. Had it been any other person it would not have been possible for him to attain so much in the literary field as Johnson. His father when died left him penniless with an inheritance of twenty pounds. Next thirty years for him was a long struggle with poverty. He became incurable hypochondriac. A deep melancholy undertook him. It was under these circumstances that his literary career began with Gentleman’s magazine. In 1738 came his poem ‘London’ with this he became an unknown but notable poet. Slowly he earned a name for himself and it was in these circumstances that Warburton praised him which was no li...
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5. Johnson, Samuel. The Plan of an English Dictionary , 1747. Edited :jack Lynch. Downloaded on 22nd Dec https:// andromeda.rutgers.edu/jlynch/Texts/plan.html
6. Johnson, Samuel. The Dictionary of English Language,
Adobe Acrobat Professional dictionaryofeng101johnuoft Pdf. Downloaded on 27th Dec 2013
7. Lane, Margaret (1975), Samuel Johnson & his World, New York: Harper &Row Publishers, ISBN O-O6-O12496-2.
8. Lynch, Jack. Johns Preface to the Dictionary .Downloaded on 22 Dec Andromeda.rutgers.edu/-jlynch/Texts/preface.html
9. Nicholls, Dr. Graham. Johnson reads for the Dictionary, Paper delivered at AGM of the Johnson society at the Guildhall, Litchfield, wed 21 March 2001.
10. Reddick , Allen. The Making of Johnson’s Dictionary 1746-1773 Cambridge University Press, 1990. Print.
11. Smith, Adam. “Review of Johnson’s Dictionary’ Edinburgh Review, 1755.
2 Delbridge, A., Bernard, J. R. L., Blair, D., Peters, P., Butler, S., Eds., The Macquarie Dictionary, Second Ed., Macquarie: Macquarie, 1995, p. 826.
Winchester, Simon. The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary. New York: HarperCollins, 1998. Print.
Blackwell Publishers Ltd: Oxford. Shahita, Y. (2003) Don Johnson. Retrieved 29 March 2005 from http://www.enigma-mag.com/doninterview.htm
May, Robert. “Lesson 6: The Early Modern Period.” English 110S Course Notes. Queen’s University. Kingston. Summer 2010. Course Manual.
Berube, Margery S., et all; The American Heritage Dictionary Second Edition; Houghton Mifflin Company; Boston, Mass, 1985
Samuel Johnson, prominent English author, lived a life which was appears to have been unpretentious on the surface, however his life was filled with numerous complications, extreme suffering and massive psychological troubles. Also, despite all the struggles and suffering in his life, he had a “passionate concern for humanity and even said, ‘I have often thought that there has rarely passed a life of which a judicious and faithful narrative would not be useful’” ( Green ). Samuel Johnson was born September 7, 1709 in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England in the home above his fifty-two year old father’s struggling bookshop. His father had gained prosperity but it did not endure the enterprises he was involved in, forcing the family into financial distress. As a result, Samuel Johnson would feel the financial distress for the first fifty years of his life. Sarah Ford, his mother, was forty years old when he was born. She was from a respectable family but married a poor man of intellectual tastes (Green). His parents did not share a happy marriage and rarely conversed. After his father’s death he developed an appreciation of his mother’s character and determination; she would operate the bookshop for almost thirty years. On the other hand, she was firm, narrow minded and self-centered which made her unable to fill the emotional needs of her children (Green). It is speculated that Johnson’s younger brother may have committed suicide at the age of twenty-five and Johnson’s life would be plagued with psychological issues which were directly related to his mother (Green).
Shields, David S. Oracles of Empire: Poetry, Politics, and Commerce in British America, 1690-1750. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990
By pulling examples from each text it becomes more and more apparent that one can’t just pass judgment on him based off of one text. Rather Samuel Johnson is as complicated of a person as his writing and can not be summed up by just one author; but one needs to view him and his life in a more holistic way.
Ingram (London, 1823), with additional readings from the translation of Dr. J.A. Giles (London, 1847). Online: http://omacl.org/Anglo/
How do academic factual texts differ from texts of fiction in ways of style? To demonstration whether such differences can be deduces, the literary style of Samuel Johnson’s preface to his dictionary and Gertrude Stein’s story of ‘Melanctha’ will be compared. Carefully analysing the difference between the two works down to even word level will show if any similarities exist. The stylistic level will be the main focus of the analysis based on two passages chosen which can be found in the works cited list.
Mitchell, Bruce and Robinson, Michael A Guide To Old English, fifth edition 1992 , Blackwell Publishers , Oxford .
Pearsall J (1999) The Concise Oxford Dictionary Tenth Edition page 286 by Oxford University Press in Oxford New York, America
In Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language, Johnson argues the importance of preserving language. Other dialects had a produced their own dictionaries, such as the French and Italians. Various writers of the eighteenth century were alarmed at the fact that there was no standard for the English language, since there was no standard it could easily become extinct. Johnson explored many points, such as how and why languages change as well as how many words are formed.
Pope, Alexander. "An Essay on Man." in Eighteenth-Century English Literature. Eds. Geoffrey Tillotson, Paul Fussell, Jr. and Marshall Waingrow. New York: Harcourt, 1969. 635-51.
The Readers Digest Encyclopedia Dictionary. Ed. Sidney L. Landau. Pleasantville: The Readers Digest Association, 1966. 652,1336.