Timeline

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary Timeline

1737

March 2

SJ leaves Lichfield for London with David Garrick

SJ leaves Lichfield for London with David Garrick

1738

March 22

SJ becomes a regular contributor to the Gentleman’s Magazine

May 13

SJ’s first major poem, London, is published anonymously

1740

October 29

James Boswell is born

James Boswell is born

November 22

Samuel Richardson publishes Pamela

Samuel Richardson publishes Pamela

1741

July 22

SJ begins publishing his version of the debates in Parliament in the Gentleman’s Magazine

1742

June 22

SJ and Thomas Osborne work on a catalog of the Harleian Library

1744

February 11

SJ publishes The Life of Richard Savage

SJ publishes The Life of Richard Savage

May 30

Alexander Pope, one of the most quoted authors in the Dictionary, dies

1745

April 6

SJ publishes Miscellaneous Observations on the Tragedy of Macbeth, a proposal for a complete edition of Shakespeare’s plays, but when another publisher claims the copyright the idea is abandoned

October 19

Jonathan Swift, one of the most quoted authors in the Dictionary, dies

1746

April 30

SJ submits his “Short Scheme for Compiling a New Dictionary of the English Language”

June 18

SJ signs the contract for his Dictionary, for which he will receive 1,500 guineas (£1,575)

June 22

A group of booksellers approach SJ and encourage him to write a proposal for a dictionary

June 22

SJ moves to 17 Gough Square, London, and uses its garret as a workshop

SJ moves to 17 Gough Square, London, and uses its garret as a workshop

1747

August 22

SJ publishes A Plan of a Dictionary of the English Language, a revised version of his “Short Scheme,” dedicated to Lord Chesterfield

1749

January 9

SJ’s best-known poem, The Vanity of Human Wishes, is the first work to be published under his name

February 6

SJ’s tragedy, Irene, is performed at Drury Lane; it runs nine nights

June 22

Benjamin Martin publishes Lingua Britannica Reformata; or, A New English Dictionary, borrowing from Bailey’s Universal Dictionary and apparently incorporating ideas from SJ’s Plan of a Dictionary

Benjamin Martin publishes Lingua Britannica Reformata; or, A New English Dictionary, borrowing from Bailey’s Universal Dictionary and apparently incorporating ideas from SJ’s Plan of a Dictionary

1750

March 20

SJ publishes the first number of The Rambler

October 22

Printing begins on the Dictionary

1752

March 14

SJ publishes the last number of The Rambler

March 28

SJ’s wife Tetty dies, plunging him into depression

1753

March 3

SJ publishes his first contribution to The Adventurer

1754

March 2

SJ publishes his last contribution to The Adventurer

June 22

Benjamin Martin publishes the second edition of Lingua Britannica Reformata

July 22

SJ finishes writing the second volume of the Dictionary

November 22

Lord Chesterfield publishes two notices in The World, praising SJ’s forthcoming Dictionary

1755

February 7

SJ writes his caustic letter to Lord Chesterfield, rejecting his ex post facto patronage

February 20

Oxford confers an honorary master of arts degree on SJ

April 15

The first edition of the Dictionary is published

June 14

The second edition of the Dictionary begins weekly serial publication over 165 weeks; each number contains twelve or sixteen pages and cost six pence

December 22

SJ becomes seriously ill with bronchitis and conjunctivitis; the illness lasts nearly two months, and rumors circulate that he has died

1756

January 5

SJ publishes a more affordable abridged edition of the Dictionary, “abstracted from the folio edition, by the Author,” in which the quotations are omitted

March 22

SJ is arrested for debt and receives relief from novelist Samuel Richardson

June 2

SJ signs a contract to publish an eight-volume edition of Shakespeare’s plays, promising it will appear by Christmas 1757

1758

February 10

SJ is again deeply in debt; a loan from his publisher staves off another arrest

April 15

SJ begins publishing his final series of periodical essays, The Idler

October 16

Noah Webster is born

Noah Webster is born

1759

April 20

SJ publishes Rasselas, his most famous work of fiction; he uses his payment to cover the costs of his mother’s funeral