Summary
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary edited by Jack Lynch Atlantic/ Levenger, (pounds) 19.99 When the last sheets of his dictionary were delivered late to Andrew Millar, one of the syndicate of nine publishers financing the undertaking, Samuel Johnson asked the copy boy what the Scottish bookseller had said. "He said 'Thank God for that'."
"I am glad," said Johnson, never easy on Presbyterians, "that he thanks God for anything!" Millar had no cause for impatience, except about returns on his share of the (pounds) 1575 put up by the group. Admittedly, Johnson had talked of taking three years and, in the way of a jobbing builder, had taken nine. But the Academie Francaise, with 40 learned principles, had taken 40. And the new venture was an etymological dictionary, giving roots as well as meanings.See the full content of this document
Extract
Leave the Gillet, Here's the Kicksey-Wicksey
Supremely, though, it was a celebration of literature by illustration.
The word "office" yields eight refinements and 17 quotations, "The insolence of office", from Hamle...See the full content of this document
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