Andrew Billen, 2004, Who was Samuel Johnson, the Wonderful Word Doctor?, paperback, £4.99 plus £2.50 P&P

“Sam was a grumpy, difficult but fascinating man. He wasn’t handsome, he wasn’t good at sport. He was poor, lazy, and not even very happy. But Sam Johnson was a hero…

Why? Because of his words. Sam could speak more cleverly and write more amusingly than anyone before or since. Yes, he wrote many books and magazine articles. He spent nine long years writing the first important dictionary of the English language. But it isn’t for his writing that Sam is remembered. What keeps Sam’s memory alive are the clever things he said. Words which are still funny and true centuries later.”

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Jack Lynch (ed.), Samuel Johnson’s Insults: A Compendium of His Finest Snubs, Slights and Effronteries, hardback, £9.99 plus £2.50 P&P

Samuel Johnson’s famous Dictionary of 1755 contained some of the ripest insults in the English language. In this book, Jack Lynch has compiled more than 300 of the curmudgeonly lexicographer’s mightiest barbs, along with the definitions that only the master himself could elucidate. Many of these expostulations have long lain dormant. Some have even become close to extinction. But now they are back in all their discomfiting glory, ready to be relished once more.

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David Crystal (ed.), 2005, Dr Johnson’s Dictionary, hardback, £19.99 plus £2.50 P&P

What is the difference between fiddlefaddle and twittletwattle? Why is it better to be an airling than a nidget – or even a fribbler? Did you know that in the eighteenth century a novel was considered to be ‘a small tale, generally of love’, or that a merrythought was a wishbone? And is dogbolt really as bad as it sounds?

Ranging from beauty-spot to coffeehouse, jogger to posturemaster, quack to rocket, this is an anthology of the 4,000 most fascinating entries from the most influential lexicon ever written, Dr Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language. Assembled by world-renowned language authority David Crystal, it is a rich treasure-trove of familiar, unusual and sometimes bizarre words, covering subjects from fashion to food and philosophy to electricity, brimming with colourful, meticulous (and often humorous) definitions and boasting literary illustrations from Shakespeare to Milton. This generous selection fully conveys Johnson’s passion for his native tongue – whether formal or ‘low’, deriving from Staffordshire or Scotland – bringing alive the innovations, fads and crazes of his day (from cricket to periwig to tea) and showing how distinctive the vocabulary of the time was – yet also how it overlaps with ours in unexpected and amusing ways.

Also including a potted biography of Johnson, along with his Plan and famous Preface for the original Dictionary, this book is a language-lover’s delight, a joy for browsing and an adventure through the English language.

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Henry Hitchings, 2005, Dr Johnson’s Dictionary: The Extraordinary Story of the Book that Defined the World, paperback, £7.99 plus £2.50 P&P

This is the story of the first great dictionary of the English language. It is also the story of an heroic ordeal. For Dr Johnson’s attempt to define each and every word was an extraordinary undertaking. In this brilliant book Henry Hitchings describes Johnson’s adventure – his ambition, his moments of despair, the mistakes he made along the way and his ultimate triumph.

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