Defining the World: The Extraordinary Story of Dr Johnson's Dictionary Export

@book{citeulike:3582287, abstract = {****  **A \_Los Angeles Times\_ Favorite Book of the Year**   In 1746, Samuel Johnson undertook the Herculean task of writing the first comprehensive English dictionary. Imagining he could complete the job in three years, Johnson in fact took more than eight, and the dictionary itself turned out to be as much a work of literature as it was an invaluable reference. In alphabetized chapters, from "Adventurous" to "Zootomy," Henry Hitchings tells of Johnson's toil and triumph and offers a closer look at the definitions themselves, which were alive with invention, poetry, erudition, and, at times, hilarious imprecision. The story of Johnson's adventure into the essence of words is an entertainment that "sparkles on every page" (\_The Philadelphia Inquirer\_).}, author = {Hitchings, Henry}, citeulike-article-id = {3582287}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=citeulike07-20&path=ASIN/B001IDZJYA}, day = {17}, howpublished = {Paperback}, keywords = {books\_ive\_read}, month = {October}, posted-at = {2008-11-20 12:05:47}, priority = {2}, publisher = {Picador}, title = {Defining the World: The Extraordinary Story of Dr Johnson's Dictionary}, url = {http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=citeulike07-20&path=ASIN/B001IDZJYA}, year = {2006} }

TY - BOOK ID - citeulike:3582287 L3 - citeulike-article-id:3582287 N2 - ****  **A _Los Angeles Times_ Favorite Book of the Year**   In 1746, Samuel Johnson undertook the Herculean task of writing the first comprehensive English dictionary. Imagining he could complete the job in three years, Johnson in fact took more than eight, and the dictionary itself turned out to be as much a work of literature as it was an invaluable reference. In alphabetized chapters, from "Adventurous" to "Zootomy," Henry Hitchings tells of Johnson's toil and triumph and offers a closer look at the definitions themselves, which were alive with invention, poetry, erudition, and, at times, hilarious imprecision. The story of Johnson's adventure into the essence of words is an entertainment that "sparkles on every page" (_The Philadelphia Inquirer_). TI - Defining the World: The Extraordinary Story of Dr Johnson's Dictionary PB - Picador KW - books_ive_read AU - Hitchings, Henry PY - 2006/10/17/ UR - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=citeulike07-20&path=ASIN/B001IDZJYA ER -