The Plan of a Dictionary of the English Language

What it is

This is a short pamphlet written by Samuel Johnson in 1747, before he had finished his famous Dictionary of the English Language. It is addressed to Philip Dormer, Earl of Chesterfield, a powerful statesman whose support Johnson hoped to gain, and it explains how Johnson planned to organise and write his dictionary.

Why it matters

The Plan shows Johnson thinking through the huge task ahead of him and trying to win the backing of a wealthy patron, a common practice for writers at the time. It reveals his early ideas about the English language and how a dictionary should be made, before the finished work changed how English was studied and used.

Look closer

• Why would Johnson want to dedicate his plan to a powerful nobleman like Chesterfield?
• What does Johnson's description of dictionary-making as hard labour suggest about his own view of the task?
• How might Johnson's plan differ from the dictionary he eventually produced?