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VI
Preface to Abridged Edition and Advertisement
to Fourth Edition
In addition to the Preface, the Grammar, and the History, two other short pieces fall under the heading of "preliminaries" to Johnson's Dictionary— the "Preface" to the abridged (octavo) version and the "Advertisement" to the fourth folio edition. As indicated above, seven editions of the former appeared in Johnson's lifetime. Our collation of all of them disclosed only one small substantive variant and seven equally small accidental differences: nothing to suggest any kind of authorial revision or the need for any emendation. Therefore we have retained first-edition readings throughout the text.
As also noted above, the fifth, sixth, and seventh editions of the "proprietors'" unabridged Dictionary were published in 1784 and 1785. Our collation of the three printings of the "Advertisement" turned up no substantive, and only six accidental, variants and no evidence of textual corruption. Consequently, we have retained everywhere the original readings in the fourth edition.
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