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| | Johnson, Samuel, English author. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05 |
 | | Johnsons first work of lasting importance, and the one that permanently established his reputation in his own time, was his Dictionary of the English Language (1755), the first comprehensive lexicographical work on English ever undertaken. |
 | | Johnsons Lives of the Poets (17791781), his last major work, comprises ten small volumes of acute criticism, characterized, as is all of Johnsons work, by both classical values and sensitive perception. |
 | | Johnson, as he is universally known, was Englands first full-dress man of letters, and his mind and personality helped to create the traditions that have guided English taste and criticism. |
| www.bartleby.com /65/jo/JohnsonEng.html (690 words) |
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