精品文档，仅供学习与交流，如有侵权请联系网站删除 【精品文档】第 2 页 Samuel Johnson and his famous letter The day June the 18th of 1746 is a milestone in the history of English dictionary. On this day, a poverty-stricken scholar signed an impressive contract with a publisher in London. He decided to compile the first English dictionary on his own. This extraordinary intellectual is Samuel Johnson, a great British poet, essayist, literary critic, biographer and lexicographer. Why do I call the contract impressive? For the compiling job is too trying and arduous to be imagined. It took 40 years and 40 scholars to finish the French Dictionary in 1694. However, Dr. Johnson, a frail man, accomplished this unmatchable dictionary in a very short period time of seven years! Gathering material, confirming the glossary, explaining origins and definitions of words, he finished these work all by himself. It is this dictionary that brought Johnson to distinction. It established his status and an annual pension of 300 pounds were granted to him by the crown, which enabled him to live without any more financial care. And he was awarded a doctoral degree by the University of Berlin and Oxford. You see, this dictionary is a magnet for fame. Thus, Lord Chesterfield, a rich and distinguished politician and a well-known writer himself, recognized its worth and published two articles to warmly praise it and regarded its co
