Johnson's famous dictionary comes out in two…
1755 CE
Johnson's famous dictionary comes out in two forms.
The first is the 1755 Folio edition, which comes in two large volumes on April 15.The folio edition also features full literary quotes by those authors that Johnson quoted, such as Dryden and Shakespeare.
It is followed a few weeks later by a second edition published in one hundred and sixty-five weekly parts.
The original goal had been to publish the dictionary in two folio volumes: A–K and L–Z, but this had soon proved unwieldy, unprofitable, and unrealistic.
No bookseller could possibly hope to print this book without help; outside a few special editions of the Bible no book of this heft and size had even been set to type.
In spite of its shortcomings, the dictionary is far and away the best of its day.
Its scope and structure will be carried forward in dictionaries that followed, including Noah Webster's Webster's Dictionary in 1828 and the Oxford English Dictionary later in the same century.
There was from the beginning universal appreciation not only of the content of the Dictionary but also of Johnson's achievement in single-handedly creating it.
Reviews, such as they were, proved generous in tone.Despite the Dictionary's critical acclaim, Johnson's general financial situation will continue in its dismal fashion for some years after 1755.
Locations
People
Subjects
Regions
North Europe
View →Subregions
