SAMUEL JOHNSON

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Samuel Johnson is an English literary critic,
lexicographer and poet of the Enlightenment.

• He was the first compiler of an explanatory dictionary of the

English language. In the English-speaking world, his name has
become synonymous with the second half of the 18th century.
This period is associated with the rapid development of
literature, and it was Johnson who did a lot for this.
• Johnson was born 308 years ago - September 18, 1709 in
Lichfield (Staffordshire, UK). He grew up in the family of a small
merchant. Suffered from Tourette's syndrome (a genetic disorder
of the central nervous system characterized by tics). Despite the
lack of money and connections, he worked hard to make his way
in life. Johnson was called the English Voltaire, since his
influence on his contemporaries was as significant as that of the
French Enlightenment figure on continental Europe. 
• In 1759 he wrote the philosophical story
"The Story of Russellass, Prince of
Abyssinian." It has many things in
common with Voltaire's Candide.
• In 1765 he published the collected
works of William Shakespeare. Johnson
wrote a preface to it, in which he
expressed a new, different from the
prevailing at that time view of the law
of dramatic creativity. In 1779-17881 he
created "Biography of the most
important English poets". Johnson not
only gave biographies of writers, but
also acted here as a literary
connoisseur and critic. In particular, in
this work, he introduced new terms that
have become generally accepted, for
example, metaphysical poets.
 The most famous work that brought fame and recognition
to Samuel Johnson is the Dictionary of the English
Language. 

Samuel Johnson`s Dic
tionary of the 
English Launguage  This is one of the most famous dictionaries in
history. First published in 1755, the dictionary took just
over eight years to compile, required six helpers and
listed 40,000 words. Each word was defined in detail, the
definitions illustrated with quotations covering every
branch of learning. It was a huge scholarly achievement, a
more extensive and complex dictionary than any of its
predecessors – the comparable French Dictionnaire had
taken 55 years to compile and required the dedication of
40 scholars.
A group of London booksellers first commissioned Johnson’s dictionary, as they hoped that a book of this
kind would help stabilise the rules governing the English language.  

In the preface to the book, Johnson explains how he had found the language to be ‘copious without order,
and energetick without rules’. In his view, English was in desperate need of some discipline: ‘wherever I
turned my view … there was perplexity to be disentangled, and confusion to be regulated’. However, in
the process of compiling the dictionary, Johnson recognised that language is impossible to fix because of
its constantly changing nature, and that his role was to record the language of the day, rather than to form
it.

Johnson details the ways in which languages change over time. However much the lexicographer may
want to fix or 'embalm' his language, new words, phrases and pronunciations are constantly appearing,
whether brought from abroad by merchants and travellers,  or found in the minds of poets.

In all, there are over 114,000 quotations in the dictionary. Johnson was the first English lexicographer to
use citations in this way, a method that greatly influenced the style of future dictionaries. He had scoured
books stretching back to the 16th century, often quoting from those thought to be 'great works', such
as poemas by Milton or plays by Shakespeare. Therefore the quotations reflect his own distinct literary
taste and political views. 
Johnson also • Here are some of them: "Our first duty is to
serve society", "Patriotism is the last refuge
for villains", "For some reason, the world is
became so arranged that the slave overseers shout
about freedom louder than anyone else",

famous for "Example always has a stronger effect than

preaching." , "Life in society is impossible
without mutual concessions", "If you are tired

his of London, you are tired of life", "To live

means to continuously move forward", "Each
of us is lazy - or hopes to become one", "An
aphorisms. exciting story is rarely truthful.
Johnson's
dictionary -
two huge
• Samuel Johnson died in 1784 at the age of
75. buried at Westminster Abbey.
• Johnson's popularity continued for half a century
tomes - after his death: in 1787, an edition of Works in 11
volumes was published (the Dictionary,

remained
Shakespeare's materials and random publications
were not included), in 1825, 8 more volumes
appeared. He was admired by W. Scott and J. G.

unrivaled for Byron

almost a
century.