For as long as I can remember I have coveted, craved, desired, envied, fancied, wished and pined for, languished and thirsted after, aspired to and dreamt of owning a copy of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary. At between £5,000 and £20,000 a copy the text is well beyond the means of humble scribblers such as myself, but I can warmly recommend Henry Hitchings’ book as an economical alternative. Affectionate in its portrayal of Johnson, the book itself is immensely likeable, written with serious intent and gentle good humour. Hitchings recognises, as do all true lovers of Johnson’s monumental oeuvre, that though the Dictionary is primarily a work of reference, it is in many ways an expression of the author’s personality, in all its complexity.
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