BAUMAN RARE BOOKS 10 04JOHNSON, Samuel. A Dictionary of the English Language. London, 1755. Two volumes. Tall thick folio, period-style full red morocco gilt. $30,000 “The Most Amazing, Enduring And Endearing One-Man Feat”: 1755 First Edition Of Johnson’s Landmark Dictionary First edition of the first great dictionary of the English language, Johnson’s “audacious attempt to tame his unruly native tongue… combining huge erudition with a steely wit and remarkable clarity of thought” (Hitchings, 3)—“Johnson’s writings had, in philology, the effect which Newton’s discoveries had in mathematics,” beautifully bound in period-style calf gilt. “Johnson’s Dictionary made him a superstar. To be sure, there had been dictionaries before his. The difference is that, while these were compiled, Johnson’s was written… The glory of the book is that it is also a compendium of English literature, reprinting fine examples of words from the masters, often Shakespeare or Sir Francis Bacon. Johnson sought to ‘intersperse with verdure and flowers the dusty desarts of barren philology” (Smithsonian Book of Books). “Dr. Johnson performed with his Dictionary the most amazing, enduring and endearing one-man feat in the field of lexicography… The preface ranks among Johnson’s finest writings… It is the dictionary itself which justifies Noah Webster’s statement that Johnson’s writings had, in philology, the effect which Newton’s discoveries had in mathematics” (PMM 201). Carlyle paid this tribute: “Had Johnson left nothing but his Dictionary, one might have traced there a great intellect, a genuine man” (Baugh, et al., 992). Courtney & Smith, 54. Marginal repair to leaf 9N2 in Volume I, interiors otherwise crisp and fine. A beautiful copy.
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