Note 787 — THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. (continued 5)
Reading edition
The author of Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Dr, Johnson says (p. 153) that it was Johnson who determined Shaw to undertake this work. 'Sir,' he said, 'if you give the world a vocabulary of that language, while the island of Great Britain stands in the Atlantic Ocean your name will be mentioned.' On p. 156 is a letter by Johnson introducing Shaw to a friend.