A01=Liz Drury
Author_Liz Drury
Category=CBX
Category=CFM
Category=DSRC
Category=GBC
english language
enlightenment
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_dictionaries-language-reference
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
etymology
forgotten words
forthcoming
literature
vocabulary
Product details
- ISBN 9780712369169
- Publication Date: 24 Sep 2026
- Publisher: British Library Publishing
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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Have you ever lent a bedpresser (a heavy lazy fellow) a muckender (handkerchief)? Or felt your mind skimbleskamble (wander) in the company of an abecedarian (one who teaches the alphabet)?
With the publication of all 2,300 pages of Samuel Johnson's dictionary in 1755, the English language irrevocably changed. Suddenly words were standardised: listed with fixed grammar, spelling, and neat applications. But hidden inside these two colossal volumes is a smaller, forgotten dictionary of words that have since fallen out of vogue. From the hilarious to the arcane, Liz Drury has compiled the best words from Johnson's dictionary that have (justly or unjustly) been forgotten.
Inspired by the British Library's first edition of Johnson's dictionary, this playful and engaging lexicon in the perfect gift for any wordsmith looking to play the Dictionary Game or simply expand their vocabulary with a touch of Enlightenment.
Liz Drury is an editor, working primarily for Yale University Press. She began this project during Covid lockdown. Jospeh Drury is an academic, specialising in British literary and material culture. He is currently working on a book entitled Whimsy: A Literary History, 1700-1850.
