Authority Cited: Law
Author name and dates: William Law (1686-1761)
BKG Bio-tweet: Declined George I Oath; practical theological writing influenced Wesleys, Wilberforce, Whitefield, SJ, Gibbon; later mystic
Categories (list of works cited – preliminary) [BKG Note: two Law cites in 1755 Dict. vol. 1, one Law cite in 1755 Dict. vol. 2. Reddick, in The Making of Johnson's Dictionary, indicates 179 total Law cites added in vol. 2 of the 1773 Dict. 19 additional Law cites were identified in vol. 1 of the 1773 Dict., all under the letters "F" and "G." The sampled added Law cites in the 1773 Dict. are indicated in bold italic below. Based on the sampled headwords below, I am inclined to think that SJ remembered (or misremembered) the Serious Call when entering the cite for gewgaw in the 1755 Dict., but marked the 2nd Serious Call edition for the 1773 Dict. additions. See my comment under the gewgaw headword below. Another indication of SJ consulting his memory for the 1755 Dict. is the misspelling of "Feliciana" as "Feliciano," in the gewgaw quote. My thought is that this was a typesetter misreading SJ's handwriting rather than a transcriber error from a text. For the 1755 Dict., the William Law cites may have been "honorable mentions" as Law was still alive and SJ downplayed the use of living writers in the Dict. Preface. No cites of the Practical Treatise were identified as added in the 1773 Dict.]
Author name and dates: William Law (1686-1761)
BKG Bio-tweet: Declined George I Oath; practical theological writing influenced Wesleys, Wilberforce, Whitefield, SJ, Gibbon; later mystic
Categories (list of works cited – preliminary) [BKG Note: two Law cites in 1755 Dict. vol. 1, one Law cite in 1755 Dict. vol. 2. Reddick, in The Making of Johnson's Dictionary, indicates 179 total Law cites added in vol. 2 of the 1773 Dict. 19 additional Law cites were identified in vol. 1 of the 1773 Dict., all under the letters "F" and "G." The sampled added Law cites in the 1773 Dict. are indicated in bold italic below. Based on the sampled headwords below, I am inclined to think that SJ remembered (or misremembered) the Serious Call when entering the cite for gewgaw in the 1755 Dict., but marked the 2nd Serious Call edition for the 1773 Dict. additions. See my comment under the gewgaw headword below. Another indication of SJ consulting his memory for the 1755 Dict. is the misspelling of "Feliciana" as "Feliciano," in the gewgaw quote. My thought is that this was a typesetter misreading SJ's handwriting rather than a transcriber error from a text. For the 1755 Dict., the William Law cites may have been "honorable mentions" as Law was still alive and SJ downplayed the use of living writers in the Dict. Preface. No cites of the Practical Treatise were identified as added in the 1773 Dict.]
- A Practical Treatise on Christian Perfection by William Law, A.M., The Third Edition, 1734, London: printed for W. Innys and R. Manby, at the West-End of St. Paul's; devotion (p.258);
- A serious call to a devout and holy life. Adapted to the state and condition of all orders of Christians, By William Law, A.M., The Second Edition. 1732, London: printed for William Innys and R. Manby, at the West End of St. Paul's (per Reddick in The Making of Johnson's Dictionary (p.231), an edition later than the 1st was used for quotations in the 1773 Dict.); foolish (p.5 in 2nd edition, p.4 in 3rd edition); gamester (p.431 in 2nd edition, p.253 in 3rd edition); gewgaw (the 1st and 2nd editions of Serious Call read "gugaw-happiness of Feliciana," (p.196) the 3rd edition reads "gewgaw happiness of Feliciana" (p.141); however, since SJ reported to Boswell reading Serious Call at Oxford in 1729 (the year the 1st edition of Serious Call was published), he may have misremembered the spelling, as he also entered other quotations for gewgaw in the 1755 Dict.); needless (p.81 of 2nd edition, not found in 3rd edition); town (p.197 of 2nd edition, p.142 of the 3rd edition); petition (p.65 in 2nd edition, not found in 3rd edition); think (p.42 in 2nd edition, p.30 in 3rd edition); zealous (p.113 in 2nd edition, p.81 in 3rd edition)
- Law (no work cited); foppish; forget; frailty; freedom; gaudy; generous; genteel; gentleman; glitter; glorious (2); glory; glutton; gossip; greedy; grass; growth; running; threatening; . . . yourself; zeal.