Johnson, Samuel

A dictionary of the English language: (2 Volume Set) in which the words are deduced from their originals, and illustrated in their different significations by examples from the best writers

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In praise of Amazon and, of course, Dr Johnson
A Dictionary of the English Language...
missing volume
a tool that's also a pleasure
The Original Best Dictionary is Still a Great Resource

A dictionary of the English language: (2 Volume Set) in which the words are deduced from their originals, and illustrated in their different significations by examples from the best writers
Samuel, Johnson
Manufacturer: Classic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Customer Reviews:

In praise of Amazon and, of course, Dr Johnson.......2007-04-18

I, too, received only Vol. 2 of my order. Through Amazon's website I informed them and received an immediate response advising that a new order had been placed by them, that when I received it and was satisfied I was to return the sole volume to them. The replacement, both volumes, arrived within 7 days. After completion of the return form downloaded from their website the Vol. 2 for return was posted airmail at a cost of US$55 !! which sum I was assured would be refunded to me. The book arrived safely at Amazon and I have since received full refund of postage into my card account. All this took place most politely and amicably.
Well done Amazon. The dictionary keeps me out of mischief.

A Dictionary of the English Language..........2007-03-09

I wish that I could review this book for all who might be interested but I can not. The reason that I am unable to discuss the book is that I was sent only one volume of a two volume set. When I called Amazon to inquire about the whereabouts of the second volume, I was told to return the book that I had received and Amazon would send the complete set to me in return. Ok, no problem right? Wrong! After returning the book, I was told that this item is out of stock. What?! Yes, out of stock... And they had the nerve to claim that the return mailing charges were my responsiblity. So, now I have no books and am out he postage incurred due to their mistake.
Thank you Amazon!
Signed,
A Former Customer

missing volume.......2006-11-18

This dictionary is quite brilliant in its evocation of the language in development - I am, however, still waiting for Amazon to send me volume 1 - which they seem to have lost! Make sure you get both volumes!

a tool that's also a pleasure.......2006-03-25

So, this is a dictionary, an expensive and outdated one. For a third the price you can have an Oxford dictionary in two volumes with just about every word used in English today and complete with magnifying glass to let you read the little bitty type. For three times the price you can have the 20-volume full-sized Oxford. Why spend the money on this dictionary?

Because it's so much more than a dictionary. It's a work of humor, literature, and culture. Johnson illustrates almost every word with a bit of literature that includes one of its earliest known uses. His choices reflect a wonderful sense of humor, as do some of his definitions. He also includes word etymologies. The result is a static picture of English as it was in the 18th century - the words, their use, the context that gave them meaning - but also a dynamic picture of English as it was becoming what it is today. As another reviewer (well, the only other reviewer to date) of this dictionary notes, Johnson's dictionary was THE dictionary of the great 19th century writers in English. Hence Johnson doesn't just capture the literary and linguistic past, he also presages its future.

This is a fun dictionary to just sit down and read. No other dictionary of English is so fun to read as this one. Even the best of them is really just a tool. This one is certainly a tool (I think that any serious writer should own this dictionary before all others), but it is also a pleasure.

Okay, it's also quite an expensive pleasure. The facsimile is of high quality, bound (as was the 1755 original) in two volumes (though unlike the original, in standard library bindings). It's solid and looks solid on the shelf, though not terribly pretty. If you feel extravegant paying that much for a dictionary, you might consider buying the paperback condensed version, which contains about a fifth of the original material at a twentieth the price of the facsimile. If that sells you on Johnson, then splurge on this version. You might end up spending many pleasant evenings reading the dictionary.

The Original Best Dictionary is Still a Great Resource.......2005-09-21

Yes, I gasped at the price tag, too. But I bought it anyway and I'm glad I did. I'm also hopeful that enough people will buy this so as to make more affordable reprints possible in the future, because in my mind it is worth the cost. Here's why.

First of all, this is a facsimile reprint of the First Edition (1755) of Samuel Johnson's classic Dictionary, even down to the printer's smudges on some pages. The paper is top quality acid-free stuff, so you can count on it lasting for a while. It is Library-Bound, with Library of Congress Reference numbers pre-printed on the spine, so if you're like me, it will look odd on your bookshelf. But I don't care, and I hope you won't either, because it is just so....useful.

A work of truly mammoth scholarship, this 2-volume set has contextual quotes from famous English authors (Newton, Milton, Shakespeare, et al) and etymologies (word origins) given for nearly every word's various meanings. It boggles the mind to think of the depth of knowledge required for this work. And even that assessment says nothing of its pieces on the history of English, and the grammatical preface that has since become the basis for all of our grammar books, each with textual examples.
There are drawbacks of course. The most obvious ones are the lack of pronunciation guides and the standard 18th-century "s"'s that look like "f"'s. It can pose a challenge to readability for publicly-schooled eyes like mine, but it gets easier if you associate a soft "S" sound (as in "hiss") with this symbol. Then there are the imperfections (from a modern standpoint) in the definitions: some are now-outdated (see "Electricity"), some are borne of bitter experience (see "Lexicographer"), and there is even the odd factually incorrect definition or two. But such cases are the very rare exception and not the rule.
All of that is nice to know, but the true measure of any reference work is its utility: Who uses it, and to create what? By that test, you and your family NEED regular access to this book; it is the reference book behind the greatest flowering of intellectual and linguistic achievement in the history of English as a language. This is the dictionary whose words inspired Wordsworth, Byron, Coleridge, Emerson, Blackstone, Sir Walter Scott, Oscar Wilde, and hosts of others both great and small.
If you compare its influence to, say, Webster's Unabridged edition, there is no dispute. Despite its near-universality for a century, Webster's dictionary can boast of no such list of writers with a similar command of the language as Johnson's. A closer look reveals why: If you do not know how a word is used, Webster's will leave you in the dark. Webster's offers no context for the words, few etymologies and hardly any usage examples. The meanings may be "right", but it does not enlighten or expand the mind in the process of finding those meanings; you might know "what," but you do not know "why." There is no such argument possible with Johnson. He shows you where great writers have used those same words to good effect, and by extension you can do it too.
Enlightenment toward truth and usefulness is what Great Works are all about, and Samuel Johnson's own personal enlightenment coming through this dictionary's pages is what makes it a Great Work in its own right. But this dictionary also imparts some that enlightenment to us, and makes us more capable of using the English language to make our own Great Works, and that is why it is still far superior to almost every other dictionary you can think of.

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Seriously Biased
As a text
As a text

World Regional Geography (9th Edition)
David L. Clawson , Merrill L. Johnson , Douglas L. Johnson , Viola F Haarmann , Christopher A. Airriess , Robert L. Argenbright , Samuel A Aryeetey-Attoh , Bella Bychkova Jordan , William C. Rowe , and Jack F. Williams
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

<P style="MARGIN: 0px"> This unique study of world regional geography covers the world’s regions by 11 experts in their respective fields who are intimately familiar with their material through research, fieldwork, and teaching. Employs the central theme of human development to present a vital, issues-oriented overview of each topic. Provides a deeper understanding of the character of the world's peoples than the more traditional descriptive approach. Revises and expands coverage of Russia and Central Eurasia. Adds a wealth of new material, including New Orleans (reflecting the serious problems of a densely settled and industrialized delta region when faced with a natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina magnitude); the European Union and its significance for developmental integration; environmental problems in desert cities; and much more. A useful reference for educators or anyone who needs to increase their knowledge of regional geography.

Customer Reviews:

Seriously Biased.......2001-09-19

The tendency of this book to ridicule America (its history, its culture, its priorities, etc.) really calls into question the objectivity and political persuasion of its authors. Whether it's the destruction of the environment or world poverty, America and the American people are always to blame. We use too much energy; we don't share enough; blah blah blah. America does more to promote peace and economic development throughout the world than any other country. While the authors of this book don't seem to be so, I, for one, am PROUD to be an American

As a text.......1997-12-20

The general feel of this book is dark and dull. Graphics are oddly benign,upside, the Geography in Action sections offer realistic insight into Geographic concepts. Clawson and Fisher tried.

As a text.......1997-12-20

The general feel of this book is dark and dull. Graphics are oddly benign,upside, the Geography in Action sections offer realistic insight into Geographic concepts. Clawson and Fisher tried.

The Lives of the Poets: Boxed Set (Oxford English Texts)

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The Lives of the Poets: Boxed Set (Oxford English Texts)
Samuel Johnson
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Johnson himself wrote in 1782: 'I know not that I have written any thing more generally commended than the Lives of the Poets'. Always recognized as a major biographical and critical achievement, Samuel Johnson's last literary project is also one of his most readable and entertaining, written with characteristic eloquence and conviction, and at times with combative trenchancy. Johnson's fifty-two biographies constitute a detailed survey of English poetry from the early seventeenth century down to his own time, with extended discussions of Cowley, Milton, Waller, Dryden, Addison, Prior, Swift, Pope, and Gray. The Lives also include Johnson's memorable biography of the enigmatic Richard Savage (1744), the friend of his own early years in London. Roger Lonsdale's Introduction describes the origins, composition, and textual history of the Lives, and assesses Johnson's assumptions and aims as biographer and critic. The commentary provides a detailed literary and historical context, investigating Johnson's sources, relating the Lives to his own earlier writings and conversation, and to the critical opinions of his contemporaries, as well as illustrating their early reception. This is the first scholarly edition since George Birkbeck Hill's three-volume Oxford edition (1905).

The Works of Samuel Johnson, Vols 3-5: The Rambler (The Yale Edition of the Works of Samuel)

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Best of the best
An incredible set of wide-ranging essays.
Contains perhaps the greatest prose in the English language

The Works of Samuel Johnson, Vols 3-5: The Rambler (The Yale Edition of the Works of Samuel)
Samuel Johnson
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0300011571

Customer Reviews:

Best of the best.......2000-09-28

Samuel Johnson's essays contain more wisdom per square inch than any other writer I've encountered. Like any period, the eighteenth century had its flaws, but Johnson's prose rises above all of them. His respect for common sense and his deep faith keep him safe from the delusions of perfectability that infected many of his contemporaries.

An incredible set of wide-ranging essays........1999-12-13

Samuel Johnson wrote in many genres, and the essay is one for which he is well-known. Of the three series of his essays, the Rambler is usaully hailed as being his best. This is the only complete edition in print.

Johnson was a great critic, a moralist, and a sharp observer of human behavior. The Rambler essays cover all three aspects of his opinions.

In literary criticism, we have discussions of pastoral poetry, of Milton's blank verse (long before his biography of Milton in "The Lives of the Poets"), and a stunning essay on the superiority of biography as a literary form.

We have his moralist perspective, and his human observations, combined in essays on the foolishness of telling secrets, procrastination, self-consciousness, anger, regret, perseverance, etc.

Admittedly, Johnson's syntax can be difficult, and occasionally he will send you to your dictionary. But your efforts will be rewarded, because Johnson's views are written from the perspective of someone who is all too familiar with his own flaws, and knows the difference between the ideals he proposes and our/his own performance in attempting to achieve those goals.

Contains perhaps the greatest prose in the English language.......1998-03-26

Samuel Johnson is arguably the greatest prose stylist the English language has produced, and contained within the two hundred or so Rambler essays written by Johnson (a few of the essays were written by others by invitation from Johnson) are perhaps Johnson's greatest work. Not every essay is a classic, but many of them are and bear reading and rereading.

Samuel Johnson was a brilliant but undisciplined scholar. Although he was prolific as a writer, this was due more to how effortless it was for him rather than to a well-regimented schedule. One of the reasons he undertook the projects of writing these essays--which were published every few days in pamphlet form--was to force him to concentrate on writing down his ideas on morals, art, literature, or whatever struck him at the time. Even so, he was frequently employed in writing even at the last minute. We are told that some of the essays were still in the process of being written even as they were being set at the printer; a printer's devil would sprint from Johnson's rooms to the press with each page. What is astonishing is how perfect the essays are in their raw form. Johnson surely was the greatest first-draft writer in the history of the language. All of his contemporaries attest to the fact that he spoke precisely as he wrote.

Even if Johnson had been given the opportunity to edit and improve his writing, what would that have accomplished? How can one improve on a passage like this?

"A frequent and attentive prospect of that moment, which must put a period to all our schemes, and deprive us of all our acquisitions, is, indeed, of the utmost efficacy to the just and rational regulation of our lives; nor would ever any thing wicked, or often any thing absurd, be undertaken or prosecuted by him who should begin every day with a serious reflection, that he is born to die." (Rambler 17)

There is unfortunately no good one-volume edition of the Rambler essays. The Bate anthology regretfully neglects the moral essays for those more aesthetic and literary in nature, which is tragic because Johnson is a religious moralist as much as he is a literary critic, and even the critical side cannot be understood without an appreciation of Johnson's religious and moral convictions and sensibilities. As a side note, I could add that this is typical of Bate, and is especially in evidence in his otherwise marvelous biography of Johnson, where he tends to treat Johnson's very powerful religious beliefs as an odd sort of psychological aberration.

It is impossible to recommend a purchase this expensive for the casual reader, but as owner of the three-volume set, I can attest that any lover of Johnson will find him or herself going to these volumes and especially particular essays, again and again and again.

Collected Works Of Samuel Johnson (16 Volumes)

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Collected Works Of Samuel Johnson (16 Volumes)
Samuel Johnson
Manufacturer: Reprint Services Corp
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 0781234905

The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abissinia (Oxford World's Classics)

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The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abissinia (Oxford World's Classics)
Samuel Johnson
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia, leaves the easy life of the Happy Valley, accompanied by his sister Nekayah, her attendant Pekuah, and the much-travelled philosopher Imlac. There journey takes them to Egypt, where they study the various conditions of men's lives, before returning home in a `conclusion in which nothing is concluded'. Johnson's tale is not only a satire on optimism, but also an expression of truth about the human mind and its infinite capacity for hope.

Samuel Johnson: The Major Works (Oxford World's Classics)

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Samuel Johnson: The Major Works (Oxford World's Classics)
Samuel Johnson
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This authoritative edition was formerly published in the acclaimed Oxford Authors series under the general editorship of Frank Kermode. It brings together a unique combination of Johnson's poetry and prose - all the major poems, complemented by essays, criticism, and fiction - to give the essence of his work and thinking. Samuel Johnson's literary reputation rests on such a varied output that he defies easy description: poet, critic, lexicographer, travel writer, essayist, editor, and, thanks to his good friend Boswell, the subject of one of the most famous English biographies. This volume celebrates Johnson's astonishing talent by selecting widely across the full range of his work. It includes 'London' and 'The Vanity of Human Wishes' among other poems, and many of his essays for the Rambler and Idler. The prefaces to his edition of Shakespeare and his famous Dictionary, together with samples from the texts, are given, as well as selections from A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, the Lives of the Poets, and Rasselas in its entirety. There is also a substantial representation of lesser-known prose, and of his poetry, letters, and journals.

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A Dictionary of the English Language
Samuel Johnson
Manufacturer: Octavo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: CD-ROM

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Johnson's Dictionary is one of the most distinctive monuments of English literature and lexicography: no dictionary so vast is so thoroughly marked with the personality of its compiler. What required an academy in other nations was achieved in eighteenth-century England by a single self-styled "harmless drudge" in merely nine years. Johnson was the first to provide the comprehensive guidance we now take for granted in a dictionary. His abundant quotations illustrating usage and spelling form an anthology of the finest passages of English verse and prose, and reflect the taste and judgment of the leading essayist and critic of his age. This Octavo Edition, which marks the 250th anniversary of the work's publication, features searchable defined words (some 45,000) as well as Johnson's 1747 The Plan of a Dictionary of the English Language.

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