JOHNSON, SAMUEL. A DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 2 volumes. Folio, 420x245 mm, contemporary sheep, worn, spines rebacked;

early owner's signature on titles and notations on front endpapers and at two places in the text, a few minor marginal repairs in Volume 2, a few minor marginal tears or tiny holes; bookplates. A CLEAN SET. London: W. Strahan for J. and P. Knapton, 1755 FIRST EDITION. "Johnson introduced into English lexicography-principles which had already been accepted in Europe but were quite novel in mid-eighteenth-century England. He codified the spelling of English words; he gave full and lucid definitions of their meanings (often entertainingly coloured by his High Church and Tory propensities); and he adduced extensive and apt illustrations from a wide range of authoritative writers."-Printing and the Mind of Man 201. Rothschild 1237.