# Samuel Johnson Jr.

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For the Texas politician, see [Samuel Ealy Johnson, Jr.](/source/Samuel_Ealy_Johnson,_Jr.).

**Samuel Johnson Jr.** (March 10, 1757 – August 20, 1836)[1] was the author of the first English dictionary compiled by an American, *A school dictionary: being a compendium of the latest and most improved dictionaries*. It was printed in [New Haven](/source/New_Haven), in 1798, by Edward O'Brien.[2] Martha Jane Gibson, from Yale University, sees Samuel Johnson Jr. as America's first [lexicographer](/source/Lexicographer).[3] He was a [schoolteacher](/source/Schoolteacher), born in the town of [Guilford, Connecticut](/source/Guilford,_Connecticut).

Although he was a contemporary of British lexicographer Dr. [Samuel Johnson](/source/Samuel_Johnson), they were not related in any way. The coincidence of names leads many people to believe that the British Johnson was the author of the dictionary. Rather, Samuel Johnson Jr. was from an old Guilford family; his father was a clothier,[3] and his great-uncle was the Rev. Dr. [Samuel Johnson](/source/Samuel_Johnson_(Columbia)) (1696–1772), noted theologian, and first President of King's College (now [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University)).[3] (The *New York Times* has Johnson Jr. as the son of the theologian,[1] though this seems less likely.)

Also according to the *[New York Times](/source/New_York_Times)*, the [British Museum](/source/British_Museum) has an edition presumed perfect, while the copy held by [Yale University Library](/source/Yale_University_Library) is the so-called 'Brinley copy', which lacks pages 157–168 out of the total 198. There are no other known extant copies.[1]

## References

1. ["Johnson's Dictionary"](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1898/10/15/105964981.pdf). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. October 15, 1898.

1. ["A school dictionary \[electronic resource\]"](http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/3386867). *Online catalogue*. National Library of Australia.

1. Gibson, Martha Jane (December 1936). "America's First Lexicographer: Samuel Johnson Jr., 1757-1836". *[American Speech](/source/American_Speech)*. **11** (4): 283–292. Duke University Press. [doi:10.2307/451187](https://doi.org/10.2307/451187). [JSTOR 451187](https://www.jstor.org/stable/451187)

## External links

- ["The First American Dictionary: Johnson or Webster?"](http://blog.oup.com/2009/01/samuel-johnson/). *OUP blog*. Oxford University Press USA. January 15, 2009.

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