Samuel Johnson: from A Dictionary to the English Language
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Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) was the dominant literary figure in England during the latter
part of the eighteenth century. Johnson’s Dictionary, published in 1755, was the first
comprehensive and authoritative dictionary in English. It contains about 40,000 words and
114,000 illustrative passages. To compile his dictionary, Johnson gathered information from
many literary, religious, philosophical, scientific, and technical books, marking passages and
underlining key words.
courtesy of: Elements of Literature, Sixth Course
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