| Description |
viii, 292 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm |
| Contents |
Adventurous -- Amulet -- Apple -- Bookworm -- Commoner - Darkling -- To decamp -- To dissipate -- English -- Entrance -- Factotum -- To gather -- Higgledy-piggledy -- Lexicographer -- Library -- Melancholy -- Microscope -- Network -- Nicety -- To note -- Opinionist -- Opulence -- Pastern -- Patron -- Philology -- Pleasureful -- To preface -- Publication -- Reception -- Triumphant -- Ubiquity -- Variety -- Weightiness -- X -- Zootomy |
| Summary |
"Defining the world is an account of the Herculean enterprise taken on by Dr Johnson to establish the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language. By the early eighteenth century, France and Italy had impressive lexicons, but there was no authoritative dictionary of English. Sensing the deficit, and impelled by a mixture of national pride and commercial expedience, the prodigious polymath Samuel Johnson embraced the task, mining over the garret of his London home to the creation of his own giant dictionary." |
| Notes |
"Originally published in 2005 by John Murray (Publishers) ... as Dr. Johnson's Dictionary: the extraordinary story of the book that defined the world"--T.p. verso |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [261]-278) and index |
| Subject |
Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784. Dictionary of the English language.
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English language -- Lexicography -- History -- 18th century.
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Encyclopedias and dictionaries -- History and criticism.
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English language -- 18th century -- Lexicography.
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| ISBN |
0312426208 |
|
9780312426200 |
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