Johnson's Dictionary Online: A Searchable Edition of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language (1755, 1773)

FAIN: PW-264141-19

University of Central Florida Board of Trustees (Orlando, FL 32816-8005)
Beth Rapp Young (Project Director: July 2018 to present)

Development of an online version of the first (1755) and fourth (1773) editions of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language, with robust search and display features for researchers in the humanities.

We seek to create an online edition of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language with search functionality comparable to other modern, scholarly dictionaries. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Johnson’s Dictionary was the world’s most influential English-language dictionary. It was relied upon not just by noted literary authors, but also by the authors of America’s founding documents. Many researchers still use it to determine the meanings of words from this period; it is regularly cited by the U.S. Supreme Court. Although attempts have been made to digitize the Dictionary, these are now obsolete, inaccurate, or incomplete. This project will fill that gap in three stages: first, create a searchable 1755 edition; second, create a searchable 1773 edition; third, enhance the coding in both editions. Our goal is to make Johnson’s text easy to use and to study, providing significant, long-term benefit to researchers, educators, students, and Johnson enthusiasts.