Dictionary Of The English Language: An Anthology

Surprising, colorful, and long-forgotten entries from the most famous dictionary in the history of the English language

Samuel Johnson's best-known work, A Dictionary of the English Language (1755), is the most influential and idiosyncratic lexicon ever written and was used by Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, the Brontës and the Brownings, Thomas Hardy and Oscar Wilde. This anthology includes 4,000 of the most representative, entertaining, and historically fascinating entries, covering subjects from fashion to food, science to sex, and given in full with original spelling and examples of usage from Shakespeare to Milton.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was the leading literary scholar and critic of his time. A writer of vigor, power, passion, and profundity, he helped to shape and define the Augustan Age.

David Crystal is honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor, and the editor of The Penguin Encyclopedia.

 

Publisher: Penguin Classics
Distributor: Penguin Group USA, Inc
Publication Date: 10-30-2007
Pages: 704
Measurements: 7.80in X 5.20in X 1.22in X 1.07lb