(David Dabydeen Johnson’s Dictionary (Leeds, UK: Peepal Tree Press, 221 p.) Available in paperback)
Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language (1755) is regarded as an exceptional achievement produced by an eighteenth century scholar who is himself described as perhaps the most distinguished man of letters in English history. His dictionary, unique and remarkable in its time, was the authority on the English language right up until the production of the first Oxford English Dictionary some 150 years later. This outstanding work of lexicography goes further than a definition of words and according to his biographers it “offers insights into the eighteenth century and a faithful record of the language people used. It is more than a reference book; it is a work of literature.”
It is no surprise that this document serves as a reference point and lends a title to a remarkable novel about eighteenth century Britain and its infamous source of economic power – African slavery in the West Indies. David Dabydeen’s Johnson’s Dictionary is an outstanding master class in fiction writing. It is itself a brilliant document