Earlier this year, the Fryer Library received an extraordinary gift from Dr Geoff Wilkes, Emeritus Professor Joanne Wilkes and Mr David Wilkes in memory of their father, Emeritus Professor Gerald Wilkes (1927–2020), a distinguished literary scholar and lexicographer.
This generous donation enabled us to acquire one of the most influential works in the history of the English language: a first edition of Dr Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language (1755), published in two volumes.
Samuel Johnson was an English critic, biographer, essayist, poet, and lexicographer.
Dr Johnson’s Dictionary is widely regarded as a cornerstone of English lexicography and a defining achievement of 18th century scholarship.
The copy now held in Fryer Library is from the Paton Collection and bears the bookplates of Skene Library, William Agnew Paton (The Century Club, New York), and Stewart Paton, adding layers of provenance and historical interest for researchers.
The dictionary is a linguistic milestone and offers opportunities for research in history, linguistics and cultural studies.
Johnson’s Preface is imbued with a profound understanding of the nature of language, which repays study even today, not only by budding lexicographers but also by linguistic theorists and philosophers of language.
Patrick Hanks, “Johnson and Modern Lexicography,” International Journal of Lexicography, 18:2 (2005): 265
