Hotcockles and Twittletwattle: Forgotten Words from Dr Johnson's Dictionary

Samuel Johnson's mighty two-volume Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1755 after seven years' research and provided the eighteenth century public with the first true lexicon of their own language. Elizabeth Drury has combed through Johnson's magnum opus to compile a new dictionary of forgotten, curious, hilarious and - occasionally - quite useful words.  From unfamiliar names for familiar objects such as bedpresser (a heavy lazy fellow), muckender (handkerchief), and abecedarian (one who teaches the alphabet) to evocative and self-explanatory terms was as wantwit and skimble-skamble, this entertaining book introduces readers to an eclectic profusion of words that are either completely unfamiliar to a twenty-first-century reader or have acquired different meanings in modern usage. 

• Hardback, including 70 illustrations
• Measures 20.4 x 13.8 cm