Plan and Preface to a Dictionary of the English Language

Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)

The published dictionary was a huge book: with pages nearly 1½ feet tall and 20 inches wide, it contained 42,773 words; it also sold for the huge price of £4/10s. ($400?). It would be years before "Johnson's Dictionary", as it came to be known, would ever turn a profit; authors' royalties being unknown at that time, Johnson, once his contract to deliver the book was fulfilled, received no further monies connected to the book.

Johnson, once again a freelance writer, albeit now a famous one, faced a grim hand-to-mouth existence; however, in July 1762 the twenty-four year old King George III granted Johnson an annual pension of £300. While not making Johnson rich, it allowed him a modest yet comfortable independence for the remaining thirty years of his life. (Summary from Wikipedia).

Genre(s): Reference

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 Plan of an English Dictionary – Part 1 Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
00:33:14
Play 02 Plan of an English Dictionary – Part 2 Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
00:27:40
Play 03 Preface to the Dictionary – Part 1 Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
00:35:24
Play 04 Preface to the Dictionary – Part 2 Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
00:46:08