Written virtually single-handedly over a seven-year period by a revered dean of English letters, Johnson’s Dictionary first appeared in 1755. A remarkable monument to the vigor and variety of our language and to the genius of its author, it served as the standard dictionary for more than 150 years and formed the basis for all subsequent English dictionaries. This modern version reduces the original 2,300 pages of definitions and literary examples to a more manageable length, retaining the verbal pleasure and historical curiosity of the original. It features many entries that can no longer be found in most modern dictionaries, with intriguing definitions and examples of usage in the literature of Johnson’s time.

Brilliantly entertaining and enlightening, this volume tells the story of Samuel Johnson's endeavor to create an authoritative English dictionary. Hitchings describes Johnson's adventure--his ambition and vision, his moments of despair, the mistakes he made along the way, and his ultimate triumph.

An historical adventure through London and the sugar-cane colony of Demerara, British Guyana. David Dabydeen takes inspiration from the art of Hogarth and its dens of iniquity: we meet slaves, lowly women on the make, lustful overseers and pious Jews. But it is in his master's copy of Johnson's Dictionary that the slave Francis finds the transformative power of words, and his own path to freedom and redemption.

A collection of original essays celebrating the 250th anniversary of the publication of the Dictionary.

In this hilarious update of his original Dictionary, bewigged lexicographer Dr Samuel Johnson takes a curmudgeonly look at modern life, from Celebrity Big Brother to dubstep In 2009 Dr Samuel Johnson made a surprise reemergence from 18th century retirement and began Twittering. It proved the perfect vehicle for his acerbic, aphoristic wit and he has quickly become the darling of the site. The Guardian calls him the "greatest" thing on Twitter and the Telegraph dubs him its "star." Our gouty man of letters finds the modern world in a parlous state. It is peopled with fools like "Raisin-ey'd Tyrant Mister Nick GRIFFIN" and "BABOON-SLAYER, Fop, Macaroni, Dandy & Folderol, Mister AA Gill." His attempts to negotiate a path through the vagaries of modern life do not fare well either--for instance, on a trip to "Mister LIBERTY'S blast'd Haberdashery," upon finding "all else clad as Lumber-Jacks, I left thwart'd & alone... unwilling to dress as an unmanly Pastiche of Mister COBAIN." From Top Gear and the Daily Mail to David Cameron and Celebrity Big Brother, nothing escapes his sardonic gaze.

"Preface to a Dictionary of the English Language" from Samuel Johnson. English writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer (1709-1784).

Lackbrain, oysterwench, wantwit, clotpoll--Samuel Johnson's famous dictionary of 1755 contained some of the ripest insults in the English language. In Samuel Johnson's Insults, Jack Lynch has compiled more than 300 of the curmudgeonly lexicographer's mightiest barbs, along with definitions only the master himself could elucidate. Word lovers will delight in flexing their linguistic muscles with devilishly descriptive vituperations that pack a wicked punch. Many of these zingers have long lain dormant. Some have even come close to extinction. Now they're back in all their prickly glory, ready to be relished once more.