A dictionary of the English language: in which the words are deduced from their originals ... to which are prefixed a history of the language, and an English grammar. Fourth edition, revised by the author

London: for W. Strahan [et al.], 1773. 2 volumes, folio, pp. [56] plus unpaginated lexicon in double column; [2] plus unpaginated lexicon; titles printed in red and black, collated complete, but with the advertisement leaf C1 bound out of order (it follows d1) and with the addition of a facsimile of the Advertisement leaf in its proper place; contemporary full calf, recased and rebacked, recent red morocco labels on spine; a few scuff marks to the calf, edges rubbed, but generally a very good, sound copy. Early ownership stamps of Benjamin Stead. The Johnsonian scholar Gwin Kolb's copy with his book label laid in. The fourth edition ranks next to the (truncated) first edition of 1755 in both importance and interest, representing the author's final and only corrected text. "Significant numbers of new illustrative texts were incorporated, while many others were dropped and replaced. [He] often flooded existing entries with new illustrations, sometimes accompanied by additional definitions or other material, thus altering the reading of the entry as a whole. "Many of the new sources from which he borrowed were theological writers, and the cumulative effect of the new quotations and their accompanying definitions or notes on usage is to draw attention to a broader theological sense of the word in question. [This edition shows, for example, Johnson's mature appreciation for Milton's work and includes many more examples of his writing] ... Johnson revised no other work as extensively or after such a long period of time had elapsed - he was thirty-seven when he signed the original contract with the booksellers for the Dictionary, almost sixty-three when he began the great revision; the scrutiny of his own work and accomplishments entailed in the effort, therefore, is unlike anything else to be found in Johnson's canon" (Allen Reddick, The Making of Johnson's Dictionary 1746-1773, pp. 89-92). Alston V, 180; Courtney & Smith p. 55; Fleeman 55.4D-4a; PMM 201(citing the first edition of 1755); Sledd & Kolb, pp. 114-126. (Inventory #: 64431)