Johnson and Grose: lexicography's odd couple

Susie Dent:

April 15 marks the anniversary of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language (1755), a work that's today universally recognized as an astonishing feat of solo lexicography. The publication, in 1755, rightly attracted great attention; David Garrick wrote a poetic eulogy to mark the achievement in the Public Advertiser, describing Johnson as 'like a hero of yore'. Reviews were plentiful, too, and, though mixed in their response, they were united in acknowledging an extraordinary effort.

Yet, in spite of the enormity of Johnson's output, there was no grand celebration, no party to launch his work. In fact, when Johnson received a letter of praise from his friend Charles Burney, some two years after the Dictionary came out, his response was telling: "Yours is the only letter of goodwill that I have yet received, though indeed I am promised something of that sort from Sweden".
Had there been a party, there is one notable contemporary of Johnson's who is unlikely to have made the guest list, even though he too was a lexicographer, and his achievements equally extraordinary. The two men even shared the same ambition: to record faithfully the English of their day. Yet their focus couldn't have been more different.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at April 16, 2013 2:43 AM
Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas