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Samuel Johnson: The Dictionary Man

Duration: 1 hour

First broadcast: on BBC Two EnglandLatest broadcast: on BBC Four

Drama-documentary telling the story of Samuel Johnson's creation of the first English dictionary, in an attic room just off Fleet Street in Georgian London. The depressive writer-for-hire with Tourette's syndrome did for the English language what Newton had done for the stars, classifying words, fixing their meaning and bringing order to the chaos of language. It took him nine years, but in the process an anonymous writer became a literary superstar. Show less

Contributors

Director:
Richard Alwyn
Producer:
Paul Kerr
Executive Producer:
Denman Rooke

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