Audiobook · read by volunteers
Plan and Preface to a Dictionary of the English Language
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) · 4 chapters · 2 h 22
About the book
When Samuel Johnson set out to write a dictionary of the English language, he first had to explain how he would do it. This recording brings together two pieces from that effort: the Plan of an English Dictionary, which he addressed in 1747 to a patron, and the Preface to the finished Dictionary, written in 1755. In them he considers how words should be chosen, defined and illustrated, what role usage should play, and how far a language can or should be controlled. The Preface is famous for its sober, humane reflections on the limits of the lexicographer's task. When the Dictionary appeared, it was a huge book, sold at a high price, and for generations it stood as the great work of its kind. Four parts, read by one volunteer, last about two and a half hours. They are a pleasure for anyone who loves words.
Introduction
Samuel Johnson, who lived from 1709 to 1784, was one of the most prominent English writers of the eighteenth century: poet, essayist, critic, biographer and lexicographer. His Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1755 after years of labour with a small team of assistants. The work was enormous, with pages nearly a foot and a half tall and over forty thousand words.
The Plan of a Dictionary of the English Language was issued earlier, in 1747, as a proposal setting out the principles of the project. The Preface came with the finished book. Together, the two texts are important documents in the history of English: they show how a thoughtful scholar approached the problem of fixing, describing and explaining a living tongue, and they contain some of Johnson's most memorable prose.
The LibriVox recording is divided into four parts, two for the Plan and two for the Preface, and runs for about two and a half hours, read by a single volunteer. It makes an excellent introduction to Johnson's mind and style. It is also a good way to appreciate what a dictionary is, a record of language written by human beings with real doubts, and what it meant to attempt such a thing with so few helpers. Johnson's own comments on the difficulty of his task, and on the impossibility of capturing a language as it changes, are as relevant today as they were then. Anyone interested in how English became standardised, or in how a great mind describes hard work, will find these texts both informative and moving.
Public domain
Samuel Johnson died in 1784: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text