Search Results: dictionary of the english language by johnson dr samuel

Shepherd and Sutton. Poor with no dust jacket. 1834. Reprint. Hardcover. Clean small format (5½ x 3¾ inches) hardback bound in leather. Front board missing, remains of spine and title label, back board very worn and just about attached, name and date on front endpaper + name stamped on rear endpaper. 284 pages .

London: Longmans, Green, & Co. [et al], 1881.. Large 8vo, xliii, (i), 1537, (1) pp. Margins of the title page trimmed without loss of text, one contemporary and two later inscriptions to front blank, marbled endpapers and edges. Contemporary half calf with some rubbing.

London: Longman and Rees, 1800. First Miniature Edition. Tooled leather with gilding. Very Good. Cook. 12mo, tooled and gilt-stamped leather with four hubs, engraved frontispiece of Dr. Johnson by Cook, frontis. & t.p. + [iii-iv] advert. + 284 pages. Very Rare! [Edited by Rev. Joseph Hamilton.] Handy edition of the redoubtable Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary with its marvellous definitions. Published in 1800 during the raging Napoleonic wars with France (see also the somewhat later inscription to a French ship's captain below). Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), or more commonly "Dr. Johnson" or "the Great Cham," was a brilliant English writer, devout Anglican and Tory, who made his reputation as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and most lastingly as a lexicographer. His Dictionary of the English Language is noteworthy for its extent, comprehensiveness, and use of pithy definitions. James Boswell, of course, memorialized the life and… Read More

London: Printed for G. and J. Offor, W. Allason [et al.], 1822. [Dictionary] OFFOR'S EDITION, third impression thus. Complete in two volumes. Quarto (29 x 24cm). pp.[4] 60; 1029 [3]; pp.[4] 1084. With an engraved frontispiece portrait of the author, and a leaf with spare paper spine labels bound in at rear, both in volume I. Recently re-backed in brown calf, with raised bands, gilt titles to contrasting red and black labels, further black tooling to spines, and the original marbled calf boards. Top edges gilt, others untrimmed. Top edge trimmed for edge-gilding. A little light toning to first and final few leaves to each volume. A minor water stain to lower edge of volume I, pp.5-28, pp.25-49, and pp.929-74. Black ink annotation to top edge of p.349 of volume I. Fairly heavy wear to original boards, now restored to an attractive, robust condition. Very good. Dr. Johnson performed with his dictionary the most amazing, enduring and endearing one-man feat in the field of lexicography; a cornerstone of… Read More

London: J. F. and C. Rivington [et al.], 1785. Leather. Very Good Indeed. 11" by 9". Not Stated. A smart sixth edition of Johnson's dictionary of the English language, in contemporary leather binding. Complete in two volumes. Sixth edition. Originally published in 1755. With portrait frontispiece to volume one. Lacking the half title to volume I. No half title was issued for volume II. A dictionary of the English language, with etymological commentary, a history of the language, and a guide to English grammar. With illustrations of the different uses of word from the best writers of the time. Due to dissatisfaction with the dictionaries of the period, a collection of London bookseller's contracted Johnson to write a dictionary. It took him seven years to complete with only clerical assistance, and he went on to produced several revised editions during his life. Produced by Samuel Johnson, known as Dr. Johnson, an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet,… Read More

London: for W. Strahan [et al.], 1773. 2 volumes, large folio, pp. [56] plus unpaginated lexicon in double column; [2] plus unpaginated lexicon; titles printed in red and black, collated complete; title in volume I neatly remargined, first 3 leaves in volume II supplied from another copy; contemporary full calf rebacked with old spines laid down and with neat repairs at spine ends; in all, a good, sound copy. Textually, the best edition of Johnson's magnum opus. The fourth edition ranks next to the first edition of 1755 in both importance and interest, representing the author's final and only substantially corrected text, and including his page-long advertisement to it ("Many faults I have corrected, some superfluities I have taken away, and some deficiencies I have supplied..."). "Significant numbers of new illustrative texts were incorporated, while many others were dropped and replaced. [He] often flooded existing entries with new illustrations, sometimes accompanied by additional definitions or… Read More

London: W. & A. Strahan [et al.], 1784. Fifth edition, the last to be issued in Johnson's lifetime; 2 volumes, folio, titles printed in red and black, lexicon in double column; full slightly later calf, rebacked, gilt decorated spine in 7 compartments with gilt labels in 2; boards rubbed and bumped, headband of vol. 1 worn, heraldic bookplate of William Hutcheson Poë and water color landscape on pastedowns, abrasion on title page of vol. 1 resulting in closed tears, foxed, 20O1-20P1 of vol.2 with neat repairs to a closed tear in gutter, gutters split with a crease on both spines, gatherings 10T & *10T swapped, good and sound. This is the only reprinting of the corrected fourth edition issued in Johnson's lifetime, and it is the last of the two-volume folio editions. One thousand copies were printed. The sixth edition (issued in weekly numbers and in 2 vols. quarto) and the seventh edition (issued in 1 volume folio) were issued in 1785 immediately following Johnson's death to compete with rival… Read More

London: printed by W. & A. Strahan; for W. Strahan, J. F. & C. Rivington, L. Davis, T. Payne & Son, W. Owen [and 21 others], 1784. Fifth edition, the last to be issued in Johnson's lifetime, and the last of the proprietors' folio editions; 2 volumes, folio, titles printed in red and black, lexicon in double column; full contemporary mottled calf, red and black morocco labels on gilt spines; scuffed and rubbed, upper joint on vol. 2 cracked, cords holding, title page in volume II with 2 creases. The Johnsonian scholar Gwin Kolb's copy, with his book label laid in. This is the only reprinting of the corrected fourth edition issued in Johnson's lifetime, and it is the last of the two-volume folio editions. One thousand copies were printed. The sixth edition (issued in weekly numbers and in 2 vols. quarto) and the seventh edition (issued in 1 volume folio) were issued in 1785 immediately following Johnson's death to compete with rival editions from James Harrison and James Fielding (see Reddick, The… Read More

London: for W. Strahan [et al.], 1773. 2 volumes, folio, pp. [56] plus unpaginated lexicon in double column; [2] plus unpaginated lexicon; titles printed in red and black, collated complete, but with the advertisement leaf C1 bound out of order (it follows d1) and with the addition of a facsimile of the Advertisement leaf in its proper place; contemporary full calf, recased and rebacked, recent red morocco labels on spine; a few scuff marks to the calf, edges rubbed, but generally a very good, sound copy. Early ownership stamps of Benjamin Stead. The Johnsonian scholar Gwin Kolb's copy with his book label laid in. The fourth edition ranks next to the first edition of 1755 in both importance and interest, representing the author's final and only corrected text. "Significant numbers of new illustrative texts were incorporated, while many others were dropped and replaced. [He] often flooded existing entries with new illustrations, sometimes accompanied by additional definitions or other material, thus… Read More

London: printed by W. Strahan for J. and P. Knapton, 1755. Second edition, 2 volumes, folio, title pages printed in red and black; contemporary marbled boards neatly rebacked and retipped ca. early 20th century; red and green morocco labels on gilt-decorated spines; the green labels faded to brown, title page of volume II with slight streaky stain, also some dampstaining to the tops of the last dozen leaves in volume II; all else very good and sound. A handsome copy. The second edition is virtually identical to the first, except that the words "second edition" have been added to the title pages and volume II is dated 1756. Published in 165 weekly numbers. "Demand fell off as the work proceeded, and Strahan reduced the number of copies accordingly from just under 2,300 copies of the early numbers, to 768 copies of volume II. This figure is therefore the maximum number possible of complete copies, making this the smallest and possibly the scarcest of the folio editions ... There are some minor textual… Read More

London: Printed by W. Strahan, 1755. [Dictionary] FIRST EDITIONS. Complete in two volumes. Folio (42 x 27cm). Titles printed in black and red. Bound to style in full brown calf with red and green title labels, raised bands to spine, decorated in gilt and blind. Some expected spotting/toning from use; more-so to first and final leaves of each volume, expert paper conservation to title of vol.II, older repairs to final leaf of each volume, last gathering washed, inside paper joint cracked. Overall very good, in a functional and attractive modern leather binding (circa 1972; collated at that time and noted in pencil to flyleaf). Dr. Johnson performed with his dictionary the most amazing, enduring and endearing one-man feat in the field of lexicography; a cornerstone of the English language. FLEEMAN, J.D., 'A Bibliography of the Works of Samuel Johnson', 55.4D/1a.

London: printed by W. Strahan, for J. and P. Knapton; T. and T. Longman; C. Hitch and L. Hawes; A. Millar; and R. and J. Dodsley, 1755. First edition, 2 volumes, folio, title pages in red and black, lexicon in double column; contemporary full paneled calf, gilt-decorated spine in 8 compartments, red and brown morocco labels in 2; sometime rebacked with original spine laid down, joints restored, endpapers and flyleaves renewed. A very good, sound, and clean copy. Alston V, 177; Courtney & Nicol Smith, p. 54; Fleeman 55.4D/1a; Grolier, English 100, 50; Printing and the Mind of Man, 201; Rothschild 1237.