The Works of Samuel Johnson, Volume 05 The Works of Samuel Johnson, Volume 05

The Works of Samuel Johnson, Volume 05

Miscellaneous Pieces

Publisher Description

When first I undertook to write an English Dictionary, I had no expectation of any higher patronage than that of the proprietors of the copy, nor prospect of any other advantage than the price of my labour. I knew that the work in which I engaged is generally considered as drudgery for the blind, as the proper toil of artless industry; a task that requires neither the light of learning, nor the activity of genius, but maybe successfully performed without any higher quality than that of bearing burdens with dull patience, and beating the track of the alphabet with sluggish resolution. Whether this opinion, so long transmitted, and so widely propagated, had its beginning from truth and nature, or from accident and prejudice; whether it be decreed by the authority of reason or the tyranny of ignorance, that, of all the candidates for literary praise, the unhappy lexicographer holds the lowest place, neither vanity nor interest incited me to inquire. It appeared that the province allotted me was, of all the regions of learning, generally confessed to be the least delightful, that it was believed to produce neither fruits nor flowers; and that, after a long and laborious cultivation, not even the barren laurel[1] had been found upon it.

GENRE
Fiction & Literature
RELEASED
2015
2 January
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
648
Pages
PUBLISHER
Project Gutenberg
SIZE
438.1
KB
A Grammar of the English Tongue A Grammar of the English Tongue
1784
Preface to a Dictionary of the English Language Preface to a Dictionary of the English Language
1784
Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland
1784
Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies
1784
The Works of Samuel Johnson The Works of Samuel Johnson
1784
Dr. Johnson's Works: Life, Poems, and Tales, Volume 1 Dr. Johnson's Works: Life, Poems, and Tales, Volume 1
2015
Miscellaneous Papers Miscellaneous Papers
1870
Fondamentaux de l’intégration Mac 10.8 Fondamentaux de l’intégration Mac 10.8
2012
A Christmas Carol (Finnish Edition) A Christmas Carol (Finnish Edition)
1870
The Common Reader: First Series The Common Reader: First Series
2014
David Copperfield, Tome I (French Edition) David Copperfield, Tome I (French Edition)
1870
Shakespeare's First Folio Shakespeare's First Folio
2014