ENLARGED AND REVISED 1799 EDITION OF JOHNSON’S DICTIONARY, WITH MASON'S SUPPLEMENT, HANDSOMELY BOUND
JOHNSON, Samuel. A Dictionary of the English Language. WITH: MASON, George. A Supplement to Johnson's English Dictionary. London: J. Johnson, et al.; John White, et al., 1799; 1801. Together, three volumes. Quarto, contemporary full diced dark brown calf, raised bands, marbled endpapers and edges.
Eighth edition of Johnson’s celebrated Dictionary, with engraved frontispiece portrait of the pioneering scholar after Sir Joshua Reynolds’ painting, with George Mason's 1801 Supplement, together three volumes handsomely bound in contemporary diced calf.
"Johnson performed with his Dictionary the most amazing, enduring and endearing one-man feat in the field of lexicography… He codified the spelling of English words; he gave full and lucid definitions of their meanings (often entertainingly colored by his High Church and Tory propensities); and he adduced extensive and apt illustrations from a wide range of authoritative writers… Johnson's book may still be consulted for instruction as well as pleasure" (PMM 201). First published in 1755. Without half titles. Courtney & Smith, 58. Lowndes, 1217. Early owner ink signature to Volume I title page.
Interiors generally clean, contemporary diced calf bindings with minor professional restoration, near-fine and quite handsome.