Anniversary Essays on Johnson's Dictionary

Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language, the first great English dictionary and one of the most famous books in the English language, appeared in April 1755. To commemorate the 250th anniversary, this volume brings together fourteen original essays by international scholars representing several disciplines: literature, lexicology, linguistics and bibliography. The essays explore familiar and unfamiliar aspects of Johnson’s masterpiece, ranging from the history of patronage to the book’s typographical design, from the political background to the treatment of compound words. Challenging the myths surrounding the book and offering the most comprehensive and wide-ranging study of the Dictionary ever attempted, these essays present the latest scholarship on the Dictionary and open up new perspectives and directions for future research.

Introduction Jack Lynch and Anne McDermott
1. The mythology of Johnson's Dictionary Paul J. Korshin
2. Dictionaries and power from Palsgrave to Bailey Ian Lancashire
3. What Johnson's illustrative quotations illustrate: language and viewpoint in the Dictionary Howard D. Weinbrot
4. Reassessing the political context of the Dictionary: Johnson and the 'Broad-bottom' opposition Nicholas Hudson
5. Johnson's ex tempore history and grammar of the English language Robert DeMaria, Jr.
6. Johnson the prescriptivist? The case for the prosecution Geoff Barnbrook
7. Johnson the prescriptivist? The case for the defense Anne McDermott
8. Johnson's encyclopedia Jack Lynch
9. The law, the alphabet, and Johnson's Dictionary John Stone
10. Hyphenated compounds in Johnson's Dictionary Noel E. Osselton
11. The typographic design of Johnson's Dictionary Paul Luna
12. The Dictionary in abstract: Johnson's abridgements of the Dictionary of the English Language for the common reader Catherine Dille
13. Revision and the limits of collaboration: hands and texts in Johnson's Dictionary Allen Reddick
14. 'Perfection is unattainable': concealed quarto editions of Johnson's Dictionary R. Carter Hailey.

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Anniversary Essays on Johnson's Dictionary

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