EuropeEvent
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary Contract
- When
- 1746
- Where
- London
- Episodes
- 1
In June 1746, Samuel Johnson signed a contract with London booksellers to compile an authoritative English dictionary for 1,500 guineas. This agreement initiated a nine-year project culminating in the 1755 publication of A Dictionary of the English Language.
Episodes
Background and detail
The Contract. On the morning of 18 June 1746, Johnson signed a contract with William Strahan and associates. The agreement valued the work at 1,500 guineas, a sum equivalent to approximately £300,000 in 2025, reflecting the high stakes of the project.
People involved
- Samuel Johnson · Lexicographer and author
- William Strahan · Publisher and contract party
- Robert Dodsley · Publisher and consortium member
- Thomas Longman · Publisher and consortium member
Sources
- A Dictionary of the English Language Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-02
- Samuel Johnson Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-19
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.