Timeline
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary Timeline
1737
March 2
March 2
SJ leaves Lichfield for London with David Garrick
1738
March 22
March 22
SJ becomes a regular contributor to the Gentleman’s Magazine
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May 13
May 13
SJ’s first major poem, London, is published anonymously
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1740
November 22
November 22
Samuel Richardson publishes Pamela
1741
July 22
July 22
SJ begins publishing his version of the debates in Parliament in the Gentleman’s Magazine
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1742
June 22
June 22
SJ and Thomas Osborne work on a catalog of the Harleian Library
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1744
February 11
February 11
SJ publishes The Life of Richard Savage
May 30
May 30
Alexander Pope, one of the most quoted authors in the Dictionary, dies
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1745
April 6
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
No Video URL Provided
October 19
October 19
Jonathan Swift, one of the most quoted authors in the Dictionary, dies
No Video URL Provided
1746
April 30
April 30
SJ submits his “Short Scheme for Compiling a New Dictionary of the English Language”
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June 18
June 18
SJ signs the contract for his Dictionary, for which he will receive 1,500 guineas (£1,575)
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June 22
June 22
A group of booksellers approach SJ and encourage him to write a proposal for a dictionary
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June 22
June 22
SJ moves to 17 Gough Square, London, and uses its garret as a workshop
1747
August 22
August 22
SJ publishes A Plan of a Dictionary of the English Language, a revised version of his “Short Scheme,” dedicated to Lord Chesterfield
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1749
January 9
January 9
SJ’s best-known poem, The Vanity of Human Wishes, is the first work to be published under his name
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February 6
February 6
SJ’s tragedy, Irene, is performed at Drury Lane; it runs nine nights
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June 22
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
1750
March 20
March 20
SJ publishes the first number of The Rambler
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