How a sickly, impoverished scholar single-handedly redefined the English language in 1755
In short: Samuel Johnson, a man who survived childhood tuberculosis and lived in near-poverty, transformed English lexicography. While others failed to capture the language as it was actually spoken, Johnson’s two-volume dictionary brought unprecedented precision to the printed word, setting a standard that dominated for over a century after its publication.
Born in 1709 in Lichfield, Samuel Johnson was a figure of profound contradictions. Despite suffering from physical afflictions—including scrofula and potential Tourette syndrome—and struggling with constant financial instability, he rose to become the most formidable literary mind of the 18th century. His path was far from linear; he left Oxford in 1729 due to a lack of funds and spent years navigating the precarious life of a writer, eventually finding his calling in the meticulous labor of lexicography.
In 1746, a consortium of London printers contracted Johnson to create an authoritative dictionary, hoping to capitalize on the rising literacy rates and the explosion of printed materials. While earlier English dictionaries existed, they were largely poorly researched glossaries of technical or obscure 'hard words.' Johnson’s approach was different: he aimed to document the language as it appeared in actual use, treating the 'sovereignty of words' as a matter of custom and precedent rather than rigid prescription.
The resulting work, published in 1755, was a monumental feat of individual scholarship. Working from his home at 17 Gough Square, Johnson completed the massive project in seven years, relying on clerical help only for copying illustrative quotations. His dictionary surpassed all predecessors in the precision of its definitions, effectively serving as the pre-eminent English reference for 173 years until the arrival of the Oxford English Dictionary. Today, Johnson remains a symbol of the 18th century, remembered as much for his formidable intellect and conversational prowess as for his enduring contribution to the structure of the English language.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: A Dictionary of the English Language | Definition & Facts | Britannica
- Also: A Dictionary of the English Language
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