The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.

Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-84) is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of English literature, as a poet, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. This collected edition of his works - commissioned by the publisher within hours of Johnson's death, such was his celebrity - was published in 1787 in eleven volumes, edited by his literary executor, the musicologist Sir John Hawkins. Volume 9 includes The Adventurer, the sequel to The Rambler, partly written by Johnson, papers about the famous Dictionary and his edition of the works of Shakespeare, various critical pieces, and an account of the Harleian Library. It also includes prefaces to other works, including Dodsley's The Preceptor, and Rolt's Dictionary of Trade and Commerce. (According to Boswell, Johnson did not actually read the latter work before writing the preface to it.)