1755 A Dictionary of the English Language

A Dictionary of the English Language, sometimes published as Johnson's Dictionary, is among the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language. It was written by Samuel Johnson and published on 15 April 1755. Johnson took nearly nine years to complete the work; for the sum of 1,500 guineas (£1,575), equivalent to about £210,000 as of 2014. Until the completion of the Oxford English Dictionary 173 years later, Johnson's was viewed as the pre-eminent English dictionary. His work was translated into French and German. In 1777, when Ferdinando Bottarelli published a pocket dictionary of Italian, French and English (the three languages side by side), his authorities for the French and Italian words were the works of the French and Italian academies: for the English he used Johnson.