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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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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Special Edition Church Warden Pipe. Commissioned by the Johnson Society of Lichfield - only 100 left!

To mark the Tercentenary of the birth of Samuel Johnson, The Johnson Society has commission 300 specially crafted clay Church Warden pipes with the bowl sculpted into a likeness of Johnson’s face. Each pipe comes in a presentation pack which is individually numbered. Each pipe is 34cm in length.
£25(P&P £4.95)

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