A Dictionary of the English Language
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1755
- Form
- Treatise
- Language
- English
- Length
- Epic · 2300 ppover 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendSamuel Johnson's DictionaryLevenger Press (Walker and Company), 2004Jack Lynch's selection of about 3,100 entries with the Preface, the practical way to read the Dictionary today.
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Johnson's Dictionary, compiled almost single-handedly over nine years and published in two folio volumes in 1755, defines some 42,000 words and illustrates them with around 114,000 quotations from English writers, chiefly of the previous two centuries. Its Preface describes the labour and its limits and reflects on how a living language resists being fixed. Many definitions are memorable for their wit or prejudice, such as those for lexicographer, oats and patron. It remained the standard English dictionary until the Oxford English Dictionary.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns A Dictionary of the English Language are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.