Quote: initially, Johnson's quotations were to edify as well as illustrate the use of words; had to expunge the bulk of quotations

Quotation

When I first collected these authorities [for the explanations of words], I was desirous that every quotation should be useful to some other end than the illustration of a word; I therefore extracted from philosophers principles of science; from historians remarkable facts; from chymists [sic] complete processes; from divines striking exhortations; and from poets beautiful descriptions. Such is design, while it is yet at a distance from execution. When the time called upon me to range this accumulation of elegance and wisdom into an alphabetical series, I soon discovered that the bulk of my volumes would fright away the student, ... thus to the weariness of copying, I was condemned to add the vexation of expunging. Some passages I have yet spared, which may relieve the labour of verbal searches, and intersperse with verdure and flowers the dusty desarts [sic] of barren philology.   Google-1   Google-2

Published before 1923

Related Topics

Topic: dictionary for natural language (41 items)