Johnson, Samuel
Rare books by and about Samuel Johnson, including first editions, copies in fine bindings, and handsome sets of his collected works.
Dr Johnson is best known as the author of the first great English dictionary, though he was also by turns poet, translator, essayist, parliamentary reporter, pamphleteer, tragedian, novelist, journalist, and editor, the quintessential man of letters, as totemic and versatile a representative of his age as Shakespeare had been before him. A celebrity in his own lifetime, Johnson was immortalised after his death in several biographies, the greatest of them that of James Boswell.
JOHNSON, Samuel.
A Dictionary of the English Language: 1755
£17,500
First edition of this most famous of English dictionaries. This work has at various times been called "the most important British cultural monument of the eighteenth century"...
2 volumes, folio (415 × 257 mm). Sometime rebound to style in half calf, red and black morocco labels, raised bands, old marbled paper sides. Paper restoration... Read more
(JOHNSON, Samuel) BOSWELL, James.
The Life of Samuel Johnson, 1791
£4,500
First edition, first state with the incorrect spelling "gve" on line 10 of page 135, vol. I. The immense task of compiling the thousands of notes Boswell had recorded on "the great...
2 volumes, quarto (300 × 220 mm). Twentieth-century brown half morocco, titles to spines gilt, raised bands, marbled sides and endpapers. In a brown cloth... Read more
![[A Dictionary of the English Language]](/content/store/products/1906/2/3142.jpg)
JOHNSON, Samuel.
[A Dictionary of the English Language] 1786
£3,000
First Harrison edition. James Harrison was one of a number of Harrisons with premises in Paternoster Row and nearby. His edition has his own prefatory life of Johnson, the original...
Large folio (425 × 266 mm). Contemporary tree calf, sides with gilt roll border, skilfully rebacked to style. Engraved portrait of Johnson by Heath after Opie as... Read more
JOHNSON, Samuel [spurious].
The new English dictionary, or complete library of grammatical knowledge: 1792
£2,500
First edition thus, an extraordinary piece of Paternoster Row piracy. This dictionary was first published as The New Royal English Dictionary; or, Complete Library of Grammatical...
2 volumes bound in one, quarto (257 × 210 mm). Rebound to style in half calf, black morocco label, double gilt rules either side of raised bands, marbled... Read more
JOHNSON, Samuel.
A Dictionary of the English Language: 1785
£2,000
First one-volume folio edition, and the seventh and last of the authorized folio editions of the Dictionary, issued the year after Johnson's death. The text is as in the fourth...
Large folio (439 × 283 mm). Rebound to style in English panelled calf, red morocco label, spine with double gilt rules either side of raised bands and date in... Read more
JOHNSON, Samuel.
A Dictionary of the English Language 1785
£1,850
First authorized quarto edition, preceded by a pirate Dublin edition the previous year. This edition was issued following Johnson's death in 1784.
2 volumes, quarto (273 × 212mm). Recent sprinkled calf to style with double fillet gilt border, red and black morocco labels, five raised bands, green sprinkled... Read more
JOHNSON, Samuel.
The Works ... 1820
£1,800
New edition.
12 volumes, octavo. Finely bound in contemporary full blue straight grained morocco, extra gilt decoration to spine, gilt rules and elaborate tooled decoration to... Read more
JOHNSON, Samuel.
A Dictionary of the English Language: 1810
£1,500
Tenth edition, corrected and revised.
2 volumes, quarto (270 × 207 mm). Contemporary tree calf, spines elaborately gilt in compartments, red and black morocco labels, marbled endpapers, floral roll to... Read more
JOHNSON, Samuel.
A Dictionary of the English Language: 1785
£1,500
First authorized quarto edition and the sixth edition overall, preceded by a pirate Dublin edition the previous year and issued following Johnson's death in 1784.
2 volumes, quarto (270 × 210 mm). Diced brown calf, rebacked in the early 20th-century with brown morocco, spines gilt in compartments, ruling to boards gilt,... Read more
JOHNSON, Samuel.
The Works. 1787
£1,250
An attractive library set of the works of Samuel Johnson.
11 volumes, octavo (206 × 128 mm). Contemporary tree calf, smooth spines, red and green morocco labels, decoratively gilt in compartments, roll to board edges and... Read more
JOHNSON, Samuel.
The Works. 1792 & 1787
£1,250
An attractive library set of the works of Samuel Johnson, with the addition of the separately-published two-volume edition of his parliamentary reports for the Gentleman's Magazine.
2 works together in 14 volumes, octavo (208 × 127 mm). Contemporary tree calf, spines gilt in compartments red, green, and black morocco labels. Portrait... Read more
(JOHNSON, Samuel) HAWKINS, Sir John.
The Works of Samuel Johnson. 1787
£1,200
An attractively bound set.
11 volumes, octavo (218 × 133 mm). Contemporary dark tan speckled calf, black morocco label, decoration to spines, cream endpapers, sprinkled edges. Engraved... Read more
JOHNSON, Samuel.
A Dictionary of the English Language; 1799
£1,000
Eleventh edition, corrected and revised.
Octavo (216 × 126 mm). Near contemporary brown calf, ruling to spine and boards gilt, five raised bands, brown morocco label. Bookplate. Attractive pencil sketch... Read more
JOHNSON, Samuel.
The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets. 1781
£950
First London edition which in fact was both the first authorized edition and the first separate edition. Originally published as prefaces to the long series of collected works of...
4 volumes, octavo. Full speckled tan calf, expertly rebacked, burgundy calf label to each spine, titles and decoration gilt, decorative border to boards gilt. Some... Read more
JOHNSON, Samuel.
A Dictionary of the English Language: 1816
£750
Eleventh edition in quarto format of Johnson's dictionary.
2 volumes, quarto (275 × 215 mm). Near-contemporary black polished calf, red morocco labels, wide raised bands, covers with gilt scroll borders and central... Read more
JOHNSON, Samuel.
The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets. 1810
£500
A later printing of the author's highly influential work of biography and criticism.
3 volumes, octavo (212 × 127 mm). Contemporary speckled calf, titles to spine gilt, black labels. Portrait frontispieces. Occasional light spotting and browning... Read more
(JOHNSON, Samuel) LATHAM, Robert Gordon.
A Dictionary of the English Language. 1870-72
£450
4 vols. Quarto. Contemporary red half morocco with red boards, titles to spines gilt. Spines faded to brown, boards unevenly faded otherwise a nice solid set.
4 vols. Quarto. Contemporary red half morocco with red boards, titles to spines gilt. Spines faded to brown, boards unevenly faded otherwise a nice solid set. Read more
(JOHNSON, Samuel) LYNAM, Rev. Robert.
The Works of Samuel Johnson. 1825
£450
A handsomely bound set.
6 volumes, octavo (213 × 130 mm). Contemporary tan calf, red and black morocco labels, decoration to bands, single rule to boards gilt with dotted fillet in... Read more
(JOHNSON, Samuel) BOSWELL, James.
The Life of Samuel Johnson. 1898
£125
An attractively bound copy with the bookplate of British poet and novelist Gilbert Frankau and a gift inscription to Frankau from fellow author A. C. Benson.
Octavo (182 × 120 mm). Contemporary vellum, spine gilt in compartments with flower tools, brown morocco labels, double-line ruling to boards gilt, marbled... Read more
(JOHNSON, Samuel) BOSWELL, James.
The Life of Samuel Johnson, 1827
£95
An attractively bound copy of the Life of Samuel Johnson.
Octavo (215 × 125 mm). Contemporary tree calf, spine gilt in compartments, gilt roll to boards. Binding lightly rubbed, corners a little bumped, top edge of... Read more
